Karnal residents line up to get masks

The mask counter, set up by the district administration, is being operated by women self-help groups

Amid the growing rumour about shortage of masks across the country, the Karnal district administration set up a booth for sale of masks at the Mini-Secretariat on Thursday.

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Hundreds of Karnal residents lined up at the mask counter where the masks were being sold at ₹7 .

The counter was inaugurated by Karnal deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav. Speaking on the occasion,he said the counter is being operated by women self-help groups who are preparing the masks themselves. As many as 5,000 masks were made available on the first day.

The booth was thronged by people as they had been waiting to get masks in a bid to protect themselves from coronavirus.

To prevent illegal trade, the number of masks being sold per person was restricted to five.

The DC said the government has declared face masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act ,1955, and the move will help counter the rumour of shortage and will prevent black-marketing of masks. He added that the setting up the counter will improve the availability of masks and will also generate employment.

“We have come here to buy masks as they are not available in shops and also the prices at chemist shops are much higher”, said Rajesh Sharma, a Karnal resident.

Most employees working at the Mini-Secretariat also purchased masks.

The price of masks available in the market has risen to ₹30 from ₹2 in the past one month.

Quarantined Kurukshetra man, woman tested negative

A man and woman of Kurukshetra, who had developed symptoms of coronavirus have been tested negative. Kurukshetra chief medical officer Sukhbir Singh said their samples had been sent to Government Medical College, Khanpur Kalan, for testing and after they tested negative, they were discharged from the isolation ward of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Government Hospital, Kurukshetra. He said that the man had recently returned from Thailand and the woman had come in contact with her brother, who had recently returned from New Zealand. Both had COVID-19 related symptoms following which they were quarantined.