As cases go up, more people cover up to stay safe
BHUBANESWAR: With Covid cases on the rise in the twin cities in August, the number of people voluntarily wearing masks has also increased, police sources said.
People venturing out without masks can invite penalties. So far, 5,456 people have been caught by police for not wearing masks in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack so far this month, a significant drop in numbers from last month.
In July, 19,678 people had been penalized for not wearing masks. Around 7,600 and 8,700 people were caught without masks in April and May respectively due to thin presence of people in the streets for the lockdown. In June, 14,110 had been penalised for violating the mask norm.
Twin cities police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said the trend in August has shown that people are voluntarily wearing masks.
“Their consciousness is significant to contain the spread of virus. Our enforcement is continuing. Compared to the previous months, less number of people has been caught without masks, which is a positive indication,” he told TOI.
More people are also adhering to social distancing norms in August with 21,562 getting penalized for the violation compared to 31,429 in July.
As many as 45 PCR vans in Bhubaneswar and 21 vans in Cuttack have been enforcing the Covid norms ever since the pandemic broke out. Besides, the 23 police stations in the capital city (including two traffic police stations) and 21 police stations in Cuttack, including two traffic stations, have been engaged in checking people, markets, regulating blockades and during weekend shutdown and penalising people.
Cuttack so far has reported 3,104 Covid positive cases out of which 1,227 are active cases. As many as 1,860 patients have recovered with 17 succumbing to the viral infection.
On Saturday, the capital city reported 295 fresh cases out of which 153 from quarantine (home and institutional) and 142 local cases. With new cases, city’s Covid count crossed the 7,000-mark (7015). With 4,219 recoveries and 33 deaths, there are currently 2,755 active cases. On Saturday, 158 patients were discharged from the hospital. In August (till August 20), 2520 patients have recovered.