States begin doing away with Covid restrictions; Delhi removes no-mask fine

With Covid-19 cases recording a steady decline, states have now stepped forward to revoke pandemic-related curbs from April 1.

Among the major states and union territories, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi said on Thursday that Covid-19 restrictions would be lifted. Some states like Tamil Nadu are, however, taking a cautious approach, and are yet to announce major relaxations.

Maharashtra: On Thursday, the Maharashtra Cabinet cleared a proposal to withdraw the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Act for Covid-19 in the state. With this, all Covid-19 curbs have been revoked: wearing of masks would be voluntary; and people will not need to be fully vaccinated to travel in public transport or visit public places like malls, theatres and shopping complexes.

“From Gudhi Padwa (Marathi New Year, April 2), all Covid-19-related restrictions under the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act will be withdrawn,” state health minister Rajesh Tope said.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, too, tweeted: “All Covid restrictions in Maharashtra will be lifted, as we bring in the new year this Gudi Padwa!”

Delhi: Similarly, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided that there would be no fine for not wearing face masks at public places in the national capital, official sources said.

They added that the DDMA, however, is likely to issue an advisory asking people to wear masks at crowded places. Currently, there is a fine of Rs 500 for not wearing masks in public places in Delhi.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the DDMA chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. It comes after the city recorded a significant decline in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases over the last few days.

West Bengal: The state too has revoked Covid restrictions from April 1 following an overall decline in total caseload and positivity rate.

An order, dated March 31, mentioned that after a review of the pandemic situation, the state executive committee of West Bengal State Disaster Management Authority observed that the restrictions imposed can now be revoked.

The current restrictions were in force till March 31. The major curbs included night curfew and a cap on the assembly of people up to 75 per cent capacity.  

Tamil Nadu: The state meanwhile, is treading cautiously. According to a source, the final decision will be taken after a meeting with a consultative committee and following the opinion of health experts. "We are still having an average of 35 cases and, hence, it is no time to relax. It is too early to take a call on doing away with Covid-appropriate behaviour," a source said.

Earlier this month, the Union home ministry decided to end all Covid-19 containment measures from March 31, and said there may not be any further need to invoke provisions of the Disaster Management Act for this purpose.

However, wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing norms will continue. 

States and Union Territories, too, can periodically issue standard operating procedures and advisories for contain­­ment measures, vaccination and other related aspects, including following Covid-appropriate behaviour.

According to Union health ministry’s data released on Thursday morning, India now has an active caseload of 14,307, while 1,225 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

The recovery rate currently stands at 98.76 per cent with a weekly positivity rate of 0.23 per cent.

With inputs from PTI