Govt announces face masks no longer mandatory during air travel

The civil aviation ministry, in its latest order, announced that no penal action was needed for not wearing face masks but added that passengers should still preferably use masks and face covers.  

Face masks are no longer required for air travel, according to a statement made by the Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday as the daily COVID infection numbers are continuing to decline. Till now, the use of masks or face covers while travelling on flights was mandatory.

The ministry stated that the most recent decision was made in accordance with the government's policy of a tiered approach to COVID-19 management response in a statement to the scheduled airlines. The email said that moving forward, "the in-flight announcements may just advise that all passengers should preferable utilise mask/face coverings in light of the hazard posed by COVID-19."

Additionally, it said that any explicit mention of a fine or other sanction was not required to be made during in-flight announcements. According to the most recent official data, the number of active coronavirus cases in the nation represented just 0.02% of all infections, and the recovery rate improved to 98.79%. 

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,28,580 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

(With PTI inputs)