The Delhi government on Thursday withdrew the Rs 500 fine that had been introduced in view of the coronavirus pandemic for not wearing masks in public places in the national capital.
The government, however, advised everyone to continue wearing masks in crowded public places.
“The order dated 22.04.2022 in which there is a provision to impose a penalty of Rs 500 on general public for not wearing face mask in public places, stands withdrawn after 30.09.2022,” SK Jain, special secretary health and family welfare, said on Thursday.
The Rs 500 penalty had been waived after the second wave of the pandemic subsided last year, but was reimposed in April as Covid-19 cases were rising due to spreading of the Omicron variant of the virus.
In a meeting on September 22, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority decided to stop levying the penalty stating that the “positivity rate of Covid-19 infection has come down substantially and a majority of the population has been vaccinated”. However, no official notification had been issued then.
On Wednesday, the city reported 107 new coronavirus cases, taking its infection tally to 20,05,211, the health department said in a bulletin. The positivity rate was at 1.64%. No deaths were recorded and the toll stood at 26,506.
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