Covid threat: Experts raise pitch for mandating masks again

Hyderabad: Demand for implementation of masks being raised from the health experts after an increase in the Covid positive cases in different States.

They feel that the situation is like in the middle of the wave as the State is also witnessing upsurge in the Covid positive cases. The experts want the government to encourage wearing of masks a couple of weeks till the wave threat is over. Especially those with symptoms or family members with symptoms should wear masks. The Maharashtra government has made it mandatory for the healthcare workers and also visitors in hospitals to wear masks with the increase in cases.

Dr Madap Karuna of GVK EMRI said that for the last one and half years people have forgotten wearing masks. Not many hospitals are following the basic norm of masking. At least those who have symptoms and the family members of the patients should be asked to have masks so that the cases might me decreased, said Dr Karuna.

The cases are on the rise in the country but the intensity of the cases is not much as it is not resulting in hospitalisation. In Telangana also there is a surge in the positive cases but now the number has also come down. There were 21 cases on Friday and 22 cases reported on Saturday, according to the data by the Director of the Health department. However, the change in the pattern is that the children are affected which was not seen during the last two three waves.

The doctors feel that the State governments are not reacting unless there is an alert from the Centre. Even the data released by the States are not accurate. A senior doctor said that the tests are being carried out in private diagnostics but the entire data is not coming out. The doctors want the State government to issue orders to make the mask mandatory in hospitals, schools and other public places where there is scope for spread of the virus, which was followed during the peak pandemic time.