Public compliance with the mask norm has improved, thanks to the campaigns conducted by the city police, Chennai police commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said on Tuesday.
He was speaking after inaugurating a COVID-19 awareness campaign at T. Nagar. With public cooperation, “we successfully controlled the first wave in the State” and the second wave could be checked only if people followed the safety norms, he said.
In every police district, traders and owners of hotels, lodges, malls and wedding halls were advised to follow the protocol and ensure their customers and guests wore masks and used hand sanitiser, Mr. Aggarwal said. “During the first wave, the public lacked the knowledge of how to prevent or control the spread of COVID-19. Even now, there is slackness among people. At traffic junctions and market places, we are conducting awareness campaigns,” he said, adding that 500-700 cases were booked daily for failure to wear masks.
More than 3,300 city policemen had so far tested positive for COVID-19, and over 100 of them were still in quarantine or at hospitals.
Additional Commissioner of Police, South, N. Kannan and Joint Commissioner S. Lakshmi were present.
