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Covid-19: Bihar to intensify drive against those not wearing masks
Those in private and commercial vehicles will be checked for masks and will also be subjected to Covid test, said officials
With other states reporting a spike in Covid-19 cases, Bihar is going to intensify its efforts to keep the disease in check.
State chief secretary Deepak Kumar on Monday asked the district magistrates and the superintendents of police to undertake special drives in their respective districts to check for those not wearing masks in public places
“We have asked our officers to intensify checking for masks in public places. We have also asked them to penalise the defaulters,” said Patna district magistrate Kumar Ravi.
Occupants of private and commercial vehicles will be checked for masks and will also be subjected to random rapid antigen tests, said officials.
Civil surgeons have been asked to hold testing camps in crowded areas, like vegetable markets, commercial areas and bus stand. Airport and railway station authorities have been asked to ensure compliance and also to create public awareness through loudspeakers.
Also read | India’s active Covid case burden remains less than 5%: Govt data
Those in public transport, including auto rickshaws and buses, will also be checked and subjected to random Covid testing if they are found without masks.
Till Monday, Bihar had reported 231,044 cases and 1,227 deaths, as per the health department’s bulletin. As many as 224,701 people have recovered so far, with 97.25% recovery rate. The number of active cases was 5,115.
Bihar has done 13,743,532 tests with 107,624 tests per million so far. On Monday, 106,055 tests were conducted of which 11,992 were through real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), 3,112 TrueNat and the remaining 90,951 through rapid antigen testing kits.
