The Tripura government has decided to reimpose the face mask mandate for people at public places in the wake of the surge in the COVID-19 cases, a senior official said on Monday.

The state registered 131 new infections since July 4, with the positivity rate swelling from 1.74 per cent to 7.12 per cent over the course of six days.

State Surveillance Officer (SSO), Deep Debbarma, told reporters on Monday, “The state-level COVID task force held a meeting during the day to review the situation, following which it was decided that masks will be mandatory for people stepping out of homes.”

He said that health workers would soon kick off a mass screening drive at public places such as markets, malls, and bus stands to check the spread of the disease

“After keeping a tab on the COVID-19 situation for the next one week, the task force will sit again for a meeting. If the situation takes does not change for the better, the government will take stricter measures,” he said.

The administration and police have been asked to ensure COVID-19 norm adherence across the state.

“As many as 131 new cases in one week is not good news for Tripura. Besides, there has been a steep jump in the positivity rate," he said.

Of the 131 cases, 74 people were found to have already taken two doses of the anti-Covid?vaccine.

“Also, 37 people who were diagnosed with the disease could not be traced as they had given incorrect contact details to the healthcare workers,” Debbarma added.

The state logged 22 cases on Sunday, and 36 infections the day before.