If mask mandate is back, try to not resist it

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A slight uptick in Covid cases in the city, has made people ask whether the civic authorities plan to make masks mandatory once again. The answer to that question is ‘no' as of now. Experts though have stated that the face covering will be good in certain crowded places, or if you are going to be talking to strangers outdoors.

This is sound advice going by the increase in cases. We want Mumbaikars to take precautions so that the little hill does not become a mountain soon, and we are back to square one.

Having said that, it is important to realise that Covid-19 is an evolving situation and nothing can be taken for granted ever again. If the situation, though that may not happen, warrants it, we may need to go back to the very first stage where the Big 3 - social distancing, hand washing and masking were part of our everyday lives.

Waves came and went, and then, the gamechanger, the vaccines. Those who have not taken the jabs for whatever reason, must do so. If you are eligible for the booster, do take the shot as soon as your due date arrives. Vaccines may not prevent Covid. Yet, they certainly, without doubt, cut the severity and fatality for those afflicted.

Importantly, mask mandates are back in certain states and we must be prepared that such a bounce back is a possibility here. Do not resist or brush it off, saying that we will not go back to mask mandates.

Perhaps the only certainty about this pandemic is its uncertainty, and we need to be prepared for change in rules.

This virus has not been completely vanquished. This is an ongoing war. A good general shapes his strategy and troops need to comply, according to how the conflict is progressing.