Rajasthan To Make Masks Compulsory Through Law Today: Ashok Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said the state will today enact a law, making wearing masks compulsory. It will be the first state in the country bring in such a law to fight COVID-19 since "mask is the vaccine", he said.

"Along with the 'public movement against coronavirus' going on in the state, the government will make wearing masks compulsory by enacting a law today itself," Mr Gehlot said in a tweet composed in Hindi.

The state government today also decided to ban the sale and bursting of fire crackers keeping the safety of COVID-19 infected patients in mind and also to protect the general public from toxic fumes from the fireworks.

State govt has taken the decision to ban the sale and bursting of firecrackers in order to protect health of #COVID19 infected patients & public from poisonous smoke emanating due to fireworks.
In this challenging corona pandemic time,protecting lives of ppl is paramount for govt

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) November 2, 2020

Instructions have been given to ban the temporary license for the sale of firecrackers and that fireworks should also be stopped during wedding & other functions.

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) November 2, 2020

On Sunday, the government said that it has issued orders for authorities to take strict action against smoke-belching vehicles that lack fitness certificates.

The Chief Minister, while highlighting the second wave of pandemic forcing many countries into another round of lockdowns, said "we ought to take precautions." He said the state had hastened the recruitment process of 2,000 more doctors to meet the challenge. 

Mr Gehlot had tweeted yesterday that a meeting of top officials held at his residence had reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state and the progress of campaigns such as "No Mask-No Entry" and "Shuddh Ke Liye Yuddh" (The battle for purity).

Rajasthan recorded 10 more deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the total deaths linked to Covid so far to 1,917. Up to 1,754 new cases recorded on Sunday brought the total infection count to 1,98,747. The state now has 15,255 COVID-19 active cases, a state health department bulletin showed.