As India’s daily COVID-19 cases are continuously seeing a downtrend the home ministry has decided to end all COVID-19 containment measures from March 31.
However, wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing norms will continue as earlier.
“The Disaster Management Act will no longer be invoked for Covid-safety measures. However, masks will still have to be worn in public places”, the MHA said in a statement.
In a communication to the chief secretaries of all states, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that over the last 24 months, significant capacities have been developed for various aspects of management of the pandemic, such as diagnostics, surveillance, contact tracing, treatment, vaccination, hospital infrastructure.
Also, the general public now has a much higher level of awareness on the COVID-appropriate behavior, he said. The states and Union Territories have also developed their own capacities and systems and implemented their detailed specific plans for managing the pandemic, he said, adding over the last seven weeks or so there has been a steep decline in the number of cases.