Rs. 1,000 Fine For Not Wearing Masks In Public Places In Telangana

Telangana Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao today urged the people to strictly follow the Covid guidelines issued by the State and union governments.

Speaking to media persons at his office here, he said that the mask policy in the State was never withdrawn, and warned that the government would impose a fine of Rs. 1,000 on all those who didn't wear face masks in the public places of the State.

Rao said that the virus was under control in the State thanks to the steps initiated by the State government - the R value was at the moment 0.5 in Telangana (more than 1 means that the disease is spreading at a dangerous rate), and except Hyderabad, no district in the State was reporting more than 10 cases of the virus daily. The virus had been completely under control in the State for the past six weeks, he claimed.

However, Covid was still active in the State, and the upcoming three months would be very crucial in the prevention of another surge of the disease, he said. Therefore, and given that the infections were going up in the neighbouring States, the people should be on alert and strictly follow all the Covid norms, he said. Top among them were getting vaccinated and wearing masks in public places.

He added that 98% of the eligible population of Telangana was vaccinated, with 106% of the population belonging to the 18+ age category administered the first dose, and 99.75% of the 18+ age category receiving the second dose, too.

Commenting on the new variant of the virus XE, he said that it was unlikely to impact the State much. He also said that Covid was likely to turn into a flu by the end of December.