A man wearing a protective mask walks past a graffiti during a nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Mumbai on Tuesday.(ANI Photo)
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made it mandatory for people stepping out of their homes to wear masks to check the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19.
“Anybody not wearing the masks can be charged under provision of Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and may be arrested by the police,” the BMC said in a notification on Wednesday.
It also asked all the officers to attend meetings wearing masks only.
The BMC order further said that the measure was necessitated as studies have revealed that wearing face masks can substantially reduce the spread of coronavirus from and to persons coming in contact with each other, besides other mandatory social distancing measures already implemented.
“The masks can be the regular three-layer masks or cloth masks, either available with pharmacies or home-made which can be washed and reused after disinfecting them,” the order signed by municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said.
The BMC order comes hours after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked people to start using mask if coming out to buy essentials and said that the people will have to use them for some period to be safe from infection.
“People should use masks while stepping out of their homes.”He regretted the inconvenience caused to citizens due to lockdown, but said “we don’t have any other option”.
He also appealed to people, especially the high risk category ones with ailments like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes to maintain dietary restrictions.
Maharashtra recorded 60 new coronavirus disease cases on Wednesday morning, taking the total tally to 1078. Of the 60 new cases, 44 tested positive in Mumbai, nine in Pune, four in Nagpur and one each in Ahmednagar, Akola, and Buldhana.
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