Wearing masks not an obligation, but a responsibility, says Uddhav Thackeray

Though the state government has removed the compulsion of wearing masks, people must put them on for their own safety and considering it their responsibility in the wake of new variants of Covid-19, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday

Though the state government has removed the compulsion of wearing masks, people must put them on for their own safety and considering it their responsibility in the wake of new variants of Covid-19, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday.

The state government said masks, even though not compulsory, should still be worn “for the health and safety of all”. HT File Photo

Thackeray chaired a review meeting of divisional commissioners and district collectors to take stock of the pandemic situation.

“We decided to lift all restrictions soon after the Central government said there was no need to enforce the disaster management Act. But new variants of Covid-19 are emerging, so citizens must be aware of the fact that they are not liberated and should wear masks for their own safety,” the CM said and directed the district administrations to create awareness among people.

“Although there is no obligation to wear masks, our responsibility remains,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said it had found the first case of XE variant of Covid-19 as part of the results of the 11th genome sequencing.

Two years after restrictions were imposed following the Covid-19 outbreak, the state government lifted the last remaining curbs, including the wearing of masks, on April 1. The government also said masks, even though not compulsory, should still be worn “for the health and safety of all”.

Maharashtra on Thursday reported 128 fresh infections, taking the count to 7,874,818. It also recorded six deaths, pushing the toll to 1,47,806.

The number of active cases went down to 828 after 159 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours. The state is in fifth position in the country in terms of active cases. Kerala tops the chart with 3,345 cases, followed by Karnataka with 1,510 cases.

The third wave has declined to its tail as the tally of daily cases is gradually shrinking. In the last one week, 794 cases have been clocked. The downturn started in February.

Though the Covid-19 situation is under control, the weekly positivity rate of 11 districts is higher than the state average. While Buldhana has the highest positivity rate of 1.40%, Mumbai has the lowest at 0.42%, a presentation made in the state cabinet meeting on Thursday showed.

Mumbai saw 41 new cases and its tally reached 1,057,355 cases. With a single fatality, the toll rose to 19,560.

In the last 24 hours, the state tested 37,477 samples with a positivity rate of 0.34%. However, the overall positivity rate stood at 9.89%, a release said.

Data available on Co-Win portal shows the state administered 1,51,177 doses on Thursday, and the total doses stand at 161,967,805.