Coronavirus April 1 Updates: Going by the consistent decline in number of new Covid cases, a few states across India have decided to drop the mandate of wearing masks. However, healthcare experts are saying that it is too soon to do so. Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Additional Director and Head of the Department – Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, told PTI that masks should continue to be mandatory and it is premature to give up this habit completely. Dr Akshay Budhraja, senior pulmonologist, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, said that it is time to stop swinging between restriction and normalcy. He told PTI that people must learn to live with coronavirus like the same way we live with other viruses such as influenza and adenovirus among others.

Meanwhile, all regions of the world have been reporting a decline in new cases in the last 7 days, but this is with the backdrop of a significant decline in testing, WHO Covid-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove said at a live Q&A session which was held to discuss the latest Covid situation around the globe. Kerkhove indicated that it is important to consider that a drop in testing could be the reason behind the noticeable decline in number of new infections.

“We are concerned about these trends, so its possible we are missing a large number of cases because omicron is so much more transmissible than any variant we have seen so far,” Kerkhove said.

She further said that there has been a rise in number of Covid deaths and it is largely happening in people who have not been vaccinated yet. She stressed on the fact that the pandemic is not over yet and that we still need to use the tools to save the lives now and it starts with administering vaccine doses.

Here are some more updates on the Covid situation from India and around the globe:

– According to the official data shared by the Ministry of Health today, India recorded 1,335 new Covid cases taking the total tally of infections to 4,30,25,775. The active cases dipped to 13,672.

– The data updated at 8 am today stated that the death toll climbed to 5,21,181 with 52 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent.

– The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,24,90,922, while the case fatality rate was recorded as 1.21 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 184.31 crore.

– Maharashtra government has issued an order withdrawing all Covid-19 restrictions. Mumbai Police will not fine people for not wearing mask from today. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has urged citizens to voluntarily use masks as a precautionary measure to prevent themselves from the virus.

– With the addition of 16 new coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 7,08,785, PTI reported. The death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,880.

– According to a Reuters report, China reported 1,827 confirmed Covid cases on March 31, the national health authority said on Friday, compared with 1,839 a day earlier. As of March 31, mainland China had confirmed a total of 151,103 infections.

– Much of Canada is facing a fresh COVID-19 wave just as authorities ease measures meant to curb the spread of the virus, emboldened by a brief drop in cases and relatively high vaccination rates, reported Reuters.

– In view of the weekly Covid test positivity remaining below two per cent for the past one month, the Nagaland government has announced that all Covid curbs in the state stand withdrawn from today. Nagaland Chief Secretary J Alam said that there will be no restriction on the number of people who can attend any event.

– Delhi school students no longer have the option of attending classes online. Schools have resumed offline classes for students from today. Schools will now run at full capacity for the first time since March 2020 and most are looking to resume all regular school activities, including bus services which had not restarted in most schools so far.