The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday changed the COVID-19 regulations, making not wearing masks, damaging property, not following government orders pertaining to the pandemic, and attacking health workers a punishable offence.
Under the new rules, everyone will have to mandatorily to wear masks, handkerchief or scarf in public places or outside the home. Spitting in public places is also prohibited as per the guidelines.
Violation of any of the mentioned rules is punishable under the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance 2020, The New Indian Express reported.
Anyone found not wearing masks or covering their face in a public place will be fined Rs 100 for first and second-time violation. In case the person is found violating the rules for the third time, he/she would be slapped with a fine of Rs 200.
If anyone is found not abiding by the guidelines issued by Centre and state government, he or she would be fined Rs 100 for first-time violation followed by Rs 200 for a second-time violation which may be extended up to Rs 500. After the second violation, the culprit would be fined Rs 500 for every repetition of the violation.
If the violators fail to pay the imposed penalties, they could be put behind bars for up to six months or charged with a fine of up to Rs 5,000, or both of these.
The government has also decided to treat any violent act against healthcare workers or damage to property as a punishable offence. The state government on Tuesday said if anyone is found flouting the norms of COVID-19, he or she could be penalised and punished.
These amendments come after the Governor of Uttarakhand on Saturday gave assent to the Uttarakhand Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897. Uttarakhand has now become the third state after Kerela and Odisha to amend the law.
Officials from the state government said that the amendment was made in sections 2 and 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act after which the rules related to wearing face masks, maintaining social distance or quarantine would now be implemented in a stricter manner.
Till date, a total of 1816 positive cases have surfaced and 24 deaths have been recorded due to COVID-19 in the state. Uttarakhand police have registered a total of 3891 cases for violating safety norms and arrested 35,885 people.
Fines have also been imposed on 67130 vehicles for not abiding by the safety norms and overloading.
Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has already directed officials to audit every death related to COVID-19 in the state and analyse the cause behind them.
