People are giving many excuses for not wearing masks in public spaces or while walking along streets though COVID-19 infections and deaths have increased over the past few days with the government fearing a second wave of infections in the country.

The government has made mask use mandatory to check the spread of the highly infectious virus in the winter and has been operating drives and mobile courts to make people aware of the importance of mask use.

The Dhaka district administration on Saturday conducted mobile courts in its five upazilas and different locations in the capital in a bid to implement the government order for mandatory use of mask as many were still seen moving without mask at public spaces, including transports and markets, with the number of COVID-19 cases increasing with the advent of winter.

The mobile courts filed 57 cases against 57 people and fined them Tk 13,300 for not using mask at public places.

The executive magistrates of the courts also distributed 700 masks free of cost as part of their public awareness activities during the drives, said a press release, adding that the DC office executive magistrates fined 1,084 people Tk 256,910 and distributed 17,000 masks after they had launched the latest drives on November 17, said the press release.

A total of 10 mobile courts operated in areas around Lalbagh, Dhanmondi, Elephant Road, Gulshan and other locations.

Dhaka district additional deputy commissioner (general) Md Momin Uddin said that the district administration would continue its drives to ensure the mandatory use of mask.

 On Friday, 10 mobile  courts of the Dhaka district administration fined 65 people Tk 14,600 in the  capital’s Gulshan, Lalbagh, Dhanmondi, Jigatola and Elephant Road areas and in some upazilas of the district, said Abdul Awal, senior assistant secretary at the district administration.

The mobile courts also distributed over 1,000 masks to poor people who were found having no mask, he said.

A good number of people were seen to put on their masks taking them out of their pockets or hand bags only when they noticed mobile courts in action.

Executive magistrates conducting drives said that people gave numerous excuses for not wearing mask.

Some said that they forgot to wear it while others gave temperature, sweating of faces as their reasons, magistrates said.

Businessman Rezwanul Alam was riding a motorbike with his two sons, all without mask. He was stopped by a mobile court at Jigatola.

Responding to the executive magistrate’s question, Rezwanul first said that he had tested positive and recovered from COVID-19 a few days ago for which he felt that it was not mandatory for him to wear mask.

Later, on further probing, he claimed that actually they forgot to wear.

The court fined him Tk 1,000.

Another mobile court, led by executive magistrate Farzana Rahman, visited some shops in the same area and found many shoppers and shopkeepers without mask, even though most of the shops there hung the ‘no mask, no service’ notice.

An eyeglass outlet owner, Al-Amin, put on his mask when the court people entered his shop.

In response to the magistrate’s query, he said that he had not been wearing it due to ‘hot weather’.

The court fined him, too, Tk 1,000. The Dhaka district administration fined 1,027 people Tk 2,43,610 in the last 10 days during their drives.

On 16 November, the government asked the administration to strengthen the mobile court operation and enforce laws to ensure the use of masks, also in the capital, to rein in the raging COVID-19 outbreak.

The cabinet on the day issued instructions to take stronger measures to arrest the coronavirus onslaught as its infection rate started increasing, said cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting.

On 19 November, prime minister Sheikh Hasina renewed her warning that the second wave of COVID-19 was imminent in the country and asked all to wear mask at public places.