Not wearing mask while stepping out of your house in Delhi may land you in jail for up to six months, according to an order issued by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev to contain the spread of the contagious coronavirus disease.
There is a provision of a fine up to rs.200 to rs,2,000 for those People violating the order by not wearing masks when outdoors.
The chief secretary said violators will strictly be punished under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his order, Dev(Chief Secretary) said any person working at any site, office and workshop must wear a face mask, no matter which sector they belong to.
“No person/officer will attend any meeting/gathering without wearing masks. These masks may be standard masks available with the chemist or even homemade washable masks that can be reused after proper washing and disinfecting them,” the order stated.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Thursday updated its list of hotspots and added a few more locations, taking the total number of high-risk COVID-19 zones in the national capital to 25.
An initial list of 20 hotspots was released on Wednesday but the government has identified five more hotspots as more cases emerged on Thursday. Delhi is just short of 700 confirmed cases, as per official figures on the health ministry’s website.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India has jumped to 6412, showed the latest figures from the Union Health Ministry. The death toll from COVID-19 rose to 199 while 503 patients have been cured of the virus or discharged. Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 1364 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu at 834 and Delhi at 720, Rajasthan at 463 and Telangana at 442.
To contain the spread of coronavirus, India is under a 21-day lockdown since March 25, with only essential services exempted. Amid indications that the central government may not lift the lockdown in one go, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers of all states on April 11 to discuss various issues related to the coronavirus outbreak including the lockdown.
