New Delhi: Following the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in and around the national capital, the Delhi authorities have been planning to impose a fine on the people for not wearing masks in the public.
As per sources, the decision was taken on Wednesday, in the meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which is monitoring the city’s challenges with the ongoing pandemic. A penalty of Rs 500 could be imposed for the residents of Delhi for not wearing a mask in public places in the forthcoming days.
The administration has confirmed that the schools in Delhi will remain open for now and a separate SOP will be issued in the pretext of preventing the spread of the deadly infection on the school campuses after a brief discussion with the medical experts.
The need to escalate the Covid tests in the region was also discussed in the meeting, and the testing drive in Delhi is expected to ramp up in the coming days.
The Delhi-NCR region has witnessed a sudden rise in Covid infection cases in recent days. As per the bulletin issued yesterday, the per day infection cases stand at 632, a rise of nearly 26 percent as compared to the previous day.
Though, the 4.42% of positivity rate on Tuesday, saw a relieving drop from 7.72% of that on Monday. The experts have warned of a spike in the coronavirus cases for the next several days.
The new guidelines by the Delhi authorities are being introduced after the neighboring state Uttar Pradesh recently made it mandatory for the people of Lucknow and six districts of NCR to wear masks in the public.
Meanwhile, just a couple of weeks ago, the DDMA had removed the penalty of Rs 500 for not wearing masks in public. However, the authority had advised the people to continue the use of masks till the virus is completely gone.
