Covid: Delhi may junk ₹500 fine for not wearing masks

Over the past seven days, Delhi has reported an average of 98 Covid-19 cases, down from 119 the week before, and 203 in the seven days prior to that. To be sure, the health department did not issue a Covid-19 bulletin on Monday.

Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday said that ₹500 fine for not wearing masks in public places in the national capital may be scrapped even as the authority stressed that the relaxation does not mean that people should stop wearing masks, officials aware of the matter said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority had imposed a series of restrictions in view of the rising Covid cases in Delhi. The number of infections, however, have hit a plateau. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The health department did not issue a formal order in this regard till late Thursday evening.

DDMA also decided that staff and equipment at Covid care facilities will be scaled down “in a calibrated and phased manner” for which the state health department will come up with a detailed plan, the officials said.

The decision was taken at a Covid review meeting amid what DDMA described as sustained improvement in the Covid situation in Delhi. Over the past seven days, Delhi has reported an average of 98 Covid-19 cases, down from 119 the week before, and 203 in the seven days prior to that. To be sure, the health department did not issue a Covid-19 bulletin on Monday. So far this month, 31 people have died of the infection, Delhi government data said.

A DDMA official said that agencies should create awareness among people about the importance of wearing masks, specially by those who are indisposed, and following other Covid-appropriate behaviour such as social distancing at crowded places.

“An aggressive campaign for encouraging public on the need to wear masks and follow Covid protocols will be carried out across the capital before the festive season next month,” said the official.

The meeting was chaired by lieutenant governor VK Saxena and attended by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Delhi government officials and health experts.

“The DDMA meeting was held in the chairmanship of LG. The prevailing Covid situation was reviewed and many important decisions were taken. I appeal to all the residents of Delhi (who are eligible) to take the booster dose of Covid vaccine.Keep your family safe from Covid during the festive season. Take all precautions to avoid Covid,” Kejriwal tweeted after the meeting.

Delhi has so far imposed a ₹500 fine for not wearing masks in public places. In November 2020, this penalty was increased to ₹2,000, as the city began to record a surge in infections. This was then reduced to ₹500 on February 26 as the Omicron wave of Covid-19 began to ease and cases began to fall. The Delhi government dropped the fine on not wearing face masks in public on April 2, but re-imposed on April 21.

The data on how many fines were imposed till date since April 21 was not immediately available.

A Delhi government official who attended the meeting said that it was decided to enhance monitoring of cases of influenza-like illnesses so that the government can detect any “early warning signs”.

The official said that the agencies were also directed to ensure broader coverage of the precautionary dose of Covid vaccination. It was also decided that data from genome sequencing will be analysed carefully to detect any surge/new variant, the official added.

A second official who was also present in the meeting said that experts reiterated that the government should not let the guard down in the wake of the upcoming festive season. “The fine for masks will be relaxed but that does mean that people should not wear masks. The authorities at the district level will carry out aggressive campaigns to underline the importance of wearing masks, follow social distancing and adhere to the Covid appropriate behaviour. The organisers of festive gatherings will also be asked to encourage people to wear masks and take all precautions to ensure adherence to Covid protocols,” the second official said.

Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said the decision on mask fines could have been delayed. “Definitely aggressive campaign to crease awareness on Covid protocols is required when influenza cases are also increasing. The mode of transmission of respiratory infections are almost same.”