The Civil Aviation Ministry has lifted the requirement for mandatory face masks on flights. It also stated in its most recent order that airlines are no longer required to announce penalties or fines for passengers who do not wear masks. This is consistent with the government's graded action policy for containing Covid-19.
However, the government added that passengers should still preferably use face masks for their protection even though Covid-19 numbers in the country have been declining.
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India reported a single-day rise of 501 new coronavirus infections, and the active cases have declined from 7,918 to 7,561, the Health Ministry said on November 16.
What has resulted in the decline?
According to experts, the virus is here to stay. However, due to hybrid immunity, the number of cases in India has decreased. Though the decrease in case numbers is encouraging, the virus is becoming endemic, which means it is here to stay.
Should we still wear masks?
The government stated in the flight advisory that while the mask mandate has been lifted, passengers are encouraged to keep their faces covered as a precaution. Long Covid is a condition that affects many people, according to experts, and it would be a mistake to disregard caution.
What can put an end to the pandemic?
Covid 19-related deaths are rare, but they continue. So the pandemic's end is in sight, but we're not there yet. The fate of the pandemic will be determined by two factors: whether governments conduct enough testing and whether new strains of the virus emerge.
At the same time, vaccination coverage should be maintained. Scientists believe that people who have received booster shots will be protected against new strains for some time. Since the virus's discovery, several sub-variants have caused infections all over the world.
What exactly do you mean by endemic?
When a disease is endemic, it does not completely disappear but remains in a population. Communities can control endemic diseases because they spread at predictable rates.
