Covid is not yet over: Keep your mask on

The seven-day average of daily Covid-19 infections in India has started rising again — this number has inched up from 996 for the week ended Friday (the lowest in nearly two years) to 1,264 new cases for the week ended Monday. This marks the reversal of a contraction that sustained for nearly three months since the peak of India’s Omicron wave. For now, this trend reversal is fuelled by growing infections in a handful of urban centres such as Delhi-national Capital Region (NCR).

While experts have cautioned against reading too much into case numbers alone (especially since hospitalisation and death rates have not risen), they have attributed the rise to the opening up of economic activities, schools, and the easing of mask rules. On April 1, mask mandates were effectively dropped in most parts of the country. It was with this case trend in mind that the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments made mask-wearing mandatory in public places in all NCR districts, including Gurugram and Noida, on Monday. Similarly, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority is scheduled to take a call on pandemic-related rules in a meeting on Wednesday.

While minor variations in infection rates should not be cause for alarm, they should serve as a reminder that now is not the time for people to lower their guard. Whether or not mask mandates are enforced at the government level, it is crucial for people to understand that the use of masks remains one of the most effective ways to fight the pandemic at a micro-level and is one of the few Covid-19prevention measures over which there is little-to-no debate in the scientific community. In addition, schools, recreational spaces, and offices need to focus on ventilation — and everyone eligible for a booster shot should take it.