NEW DELHI: Even though India has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases and over 6,000 cases have been reported in the past two days after 200 days, a small section of people are wearing masks in the country, a survey has found.
Of the 9,656 people surveyed in 321 districts of India, only six per cent said they were “effectively complying” with the masking norms, 90 per cent said they were not following the norms, and four per cent gave no clear response.
Of the six per cent who were complying with masking, the largest segment - 45 per cent - indicated that they wear a mask when in crowded outdoor spaces; 35 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded outdoor spaces like weddings, sports events, and others.
In the survey by LocalCircles, India’s leading community social media platform, 20 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded indoor spaces like malls, restaurants, trains, buses, etc.
Also, 15 per cent said they have been wearing a mask in indoor spaces with people outside their immediate family.
Though the centre has not announced any mask mandate yet, some states have taken some proactive steps. Puducherry is the only state that has made masks mandatory in public places, while Haryana made masks mandatory for gatherings of more than 100 people amid an uptick in Covid cases.
Experts said that the mask mandate sends a strong and clear message to people that they are the best protection at the time of a surge.
“When mask mandates are in effect, it will reduce the total number of bad outcomes from this fast-spreading respiratory virus. Two other benefits of masks include protection from influenza as well as worsening air pollution,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid-19 task force.
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“Masks are one of the few effective tools we have against the pandemic,” he added.
Speaking with TNIE, Sachin Taparia, Founder, LocalCircles, said that “the survey found that the effective mask compliance at a pan India level is at an abysmal 6%, and most don’t even have a mask with them any longer, let alone wear it,” said
“When those who believe they are complying effectively were asked about how they were following Covid norms, only 15% said that they were wearing masks in indoor spaces when with people outside their family members, indicating a poor understanding of the risk of spread,” he added.
Dr Preeti Kumar, Director, of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), said the adherence to masks is going down as people are “definitely tired.”
But she added that as Covid-19 is still here, masks are the best way to protect people, especially senior citizens and people with co-morbidity as many of them have not taken booster shots.
In his high-level review meeting on Covid-19 and rising Influenza cases on March 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said ‘Covid-19 is far from over” and emphasised on wearing of masks on hospital premises by patients, health professionals and health workers - being followed by some states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi - which are seeing high Covid-19 cases.
The PM had also advised that senior citizens and those with comorbidities should wear masks when they visit crowded areas.
The current spike, triggered by XBB.1.16, which is further mutating, has led eight states to report a high number of new cases in India, with ten or more districts reporting more than 10% positivity in Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi and over five districts reporting more than 5% positivity in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana.
