Not wearing a mask in public places in Uttarakhand can land you in jail for 6 months and cost you a fine of Rs 5,000, the state government declared today as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing a mask is mandatory in all states while stepping outside – many have announced that not wearing one will cost you a fine.

The ordinance was approved by Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Saturday. Uttarakhand also made quarantine rules stricter as cases in the tourism-dependent state crossed 1,700 with at least 21 deaths. Section 2 and 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 has been amended to make facemasks mandatory in the state. It is the third state after Kerala and Odisha to make changes to the act.

The strict decision was taken after a number of people in the state were found roaming the streets and markets without masks, violating lockdown rules.The new rule will be applicable from today. Ahmedabad too had imposed a fine Rs 5,000 for not wearing a mask.Earlier, Delhi ruled that not wearing a mask will incur a fine of up to Rs 1,000 while in Uttar Pradesh the fine is up to Rs 500. Chhattisgarh too imposed a fine of Rs 100 for not wearing a mask.

Petrol pumps across Odisha in April came out with a stringent rule – no mask, no fuel – to strictly enforce the government’s order making the wearing of face masks mandatory while going out.

Today, the Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR said that a total of one lakh 15 thousand 519 tests of Coronavirus were conducted by various laboratories in the country during the last 24 hours. So far, 57 lakh 74 thousand 133 tests have been conducted. ICMR is continuously scaling up its testing facilities for Covid-19 by giving approval to government and private laboratories. As of now, a total of 901 laboratories across India have been given the approval to conduct tests for Covid-19 including 653 government laboratories and 248 private laboratory chains. 

Meanwhile, in view of the rising Coronavirus cases in the national capital, the Central government has suspended all train services at Delhi's Anand Vihar railway station from today. Railway official said, all platforms at Anand Vihar Terminal will be reserved for the deployment of isolation coaches for Covid-19 patients. Two trains with special Covid-19 coaches have already arrived at the railway station. All five trains running from Anand Vihar station will now operate from Old Delhi Railway Station.

Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Central government will provide 500 railway coaches to Delhi to overcome the shortage of hospital beds for coronavirus patients. He said these railway coaches will not only add another 8,000 beds in Delhi but this coach will be equipped with all facilities to fight the Corona infection.

With Inputs from NDTV