A healthcare worker collects a swab sample for the COVD-19 test at M Block CP in New Delhi, Wednesday, December 16 (Express file photo by Amit Mehra)
Maharashtra Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray said Sunday that wearing masks will be mandatory for the next six months in the state. Addressing people in the state on social media, Thackeray said experts are in favor of imposing a night curfew or other blockade, but he is not in favor of these steps. The coronavirus situation in the state is under control, although not entirely, he said. “Prevention is better than cure. Wearing masks in public places should become a habit for at least another six months,” Thackeray said.
India reported 26,624 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. With 341 dead, the death toll reached 1,45,477. There are up to 3.08,751 active cases in the country, while 95,80,402 people have recovered from the disease. With 6,294 cases, Kerala now has more than seven lakh of confirmed infections. India is only the second country in the world, after the United States, to have more than one million new confirmed coronavirus infections.
Globally, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a total lockdown on London and much of south-east England in a desperate attempt to stop a new strain of coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in the region. Sydney also expanded restrictions after 30 new local cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours amid a growing outbreak in the northern beaches area of the Australian city. South Korea also reported a spike after an outbreak in a Seoul prison infected 185 people.
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