The Kerala government’s decision to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public spaces must be seen as a precautionary measure, as it was contributing 64 per cent of active Covid-19 cases in the country, state health ministry officials and experts said.

The other reason cited for issuing the guidelines was the rise in influenza cases. According to data compiled by Business Standard, the state has a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent, compared with the national average of 0.10 per cent. In some districts like Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, the positivity rate was much higher at 1.12 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

However, in the week ended January 17, the daily average of new cases reported in Kerala declined to 33 (147 nationally), compared with 66 during the same time last month (till December 19). India reported less than 100 new Covid cases on Monday.

Health ministry officials told Business Standard that