Centre has no plan to bring back mask mandate as of now, says report

The Centre reportedly has no plan to bring back the mask mandate as of now, despite the surge in Covid cases in some countries, including neighbouring China.

Mirror Now, quoting sources, claimed that the government will now focus more on awareness.

India reported a total 188 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday in the last 24 hrs, against 157 cases reported the previous day.


Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China and South Korea, the government has sounded an alert and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality.

Following the surge, the government made random coronavirus testing mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving in each international flight from Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Mandaviya have held meetings to assess the country's preparedness to deal with a fresh surge in cases.

Mock drills were held at health facilities across India on Tuesday to check operational readiness to deal with any spurt in COVID-19 infection, with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya saying the country has to remain alert and prepared as cases are rising in the world.

The latest spike in cases is being driven by Omicron sub-variant BF.7.

The official sources said the transmissibility of this BF.7 sub-variant is very high. A person infected with the sub-variant can further infect 16 persons.

As there have been reports of a surge in COVID cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities is being reviewed in all States and Union Territories in case of another wave.

At least 39 international travellers have tested positive for COVID infection between December 24-26 as the random testing of international passengers arriving at the airports is being done

In light of the surge in COVID in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill for COVID. The purpose of the mock drill was to evaluate COVID preparedness in terms of resources, protocol and personnel.