Is Covid back again? Maharashtra, Bengaluru bring back mask mandate amid possible 4th wave | Top points

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Covid-19 updates: Many states in the country have been witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases, and are bringing back norms to curb the spread of the virus. On Monday, Bengaluru civic authorities made masks compulsory in public places and decided to increase the tests for the virus from the existing 16,000 a day to 20,000 a day. Maharashtra too advised people to wear masks in public places as the state has been reporting over a thousand cases every day since the start of June.  

Here are the top developments in India's Covid situation:

Maharashtra

1. Cabinet minister, Aslam Shaikh stated that the people of the state should use masks in buses, trains, cinema halls, auditoriums, hospitals, colleges, schools, and all crowded places
2. Schools across Maharashtra will reopen on June 15th with appropriate measures but further decisions will be taken after thoroughly monitoring the situation, said state education minister, Varsha Gaikwad. 
3. Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,494 fresh covid cases out of which 961 were reported from its capital, Mumbai. The government health department noted that the state currently has 6,767 active cases.
4. Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said that the state could be glaring at the fourth wave of Covid-19, but urged the people not to panic as the fatalities rate is not high as of now. 
5. Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan also wrote to Maharashtra, along with a few more states that contributed much to India's Covid toll, and urged them to take pre-emptive action if needed. 

Karnataka 

1. Civic agency in Bengaluru has made masks compulsory in public places and decided to increase the tests for the virus from the existing 16,000 a day to 20,000 a day.
2. Bengaluru recorded several cases of severe acute respiratory illness and influenza-like illnesses in private clinics in the past few days.
3. The state reported 301 fresh Covid-19 infections and one death.
4. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asked people to stay calm and follow preventative measures.
5. As many as 21,413 tests were conducted, including 16,533 RT-PCR tests. The total number of tests done to date was 6.64 crore.

India's cumulative toll

India on Monday logged 4,518 new coronavirus infections This takes the tally of Covid cases to 4,31,81,335, while the active cases increased to 25,782, according to the Union Health Ministry data stated. The death toll climbed to 5,24,701 with nine fresh fatalities, the data stated. The active cases comprise 0.06 percent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 98.73 percent, the ministry said. An increase of 1,730 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Tamil Nadu records a dip

Tamil Nadu on the other hand, recorded a dip in Covid cases. The state saw 90 fresh cases on Monday while yesterday there were 107 cases. A total of 64 people were discharged after treatment in the last 24 hours while the total recoveries rose to 34,17,286, a health bulletin stated. Of the 90 new cases, 47 were men and 43 were women. Active cases increased to 862 from 836 on Sunday.

Kerala 

Kerala on Monday reported 1,494 new cases when 10,132 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. With the number of tests showing a dip on Monday, the test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 14.74%. The maximum number of new cases were reported in the capital, with 230 persons testing positive for the disease. The state has reported over a thousand cases daily. In the last seven days alone, the total number of cases reported in the State is 9,731.

(With PTI Inputs)

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