Several public health experts have stated that mandatory use of masks should be discouraged due to a steady decline in the number of COVID-19 cases. However, they added that people at higher risk should continue to wear masks, especially in badly ventilated areas and crowded places.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), has also recommended wearing masks in crowded indoor settings with poor ventilation. On Tuesday, India reported 3,230 COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths. The number of cases reported was the lowest in more than three months.

Dr. Anurag Agrawal, former head of the INSACOG laboratory consortium and chair of the WHOs Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution, added that M&A mandates appeared to reduce COVID-19 cases when the pandemic was raging. But now, wearing a mask "should be a personal choice." Similarly, Dr. Shahid Jameel of the University of Oxford recommended wearing a mask, saying that it will protect you from both COVID reinfection and a bad flu season expected this year.

On Tuesday, the Disaster Management Authority held a meeting where it was decided that the 500 fine for not wearing masks in public places in the national capital would be scrapped, even as the authorities stressed that the relaxation does not mean that people should stop wearing masks.