Thane: Amid the ongoing coronavirus scare, a man has been arrested for allegedly dumping one lakh used face masks at an open space in Maharashtra’s Thane district, the police said on Monday. These used infected masks, according to reports, were washed, put out to dry and reused. These infected masks were sold once again due to the likely unavailability and high demand for these masks.

The matter came to light after some television channels showed clippings of used masks stored at a godown in Bhiwandi township on Saturday. Taking suo moto cognisance of the reports, district health officer Manish Renge directed the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the police to carry out an inspection of the godown.

However, even before the authorities could complete their task, the accused, Imran Shaikh (22), allegedly removed all the masks from the godown and dumped them at an open space at Purna village on Retibunder Road in Bhiwandi, a police official said.

Later, videos of the masks dumped in the open were also telecast by some channels following which the police registered a case against Shaikh on Sunday evening.

Shaikh has been arrested under Indian Penal Code Section 269 (Whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), Narpoli police station’s senior inspector Maloji Shinde said.

Renge told news agency PTI that the MPCB has been directed to destroy about 25,000 masks, which were dumped in the open and seized by authorities, by following the standard operating procedure.

He said these masks might have been used in hospitals as well as industries, and were meant for one-time use. The district administration in an official release said the masks, before being dumped in the open space, were stored at a godown in Val village of Bhiwandi.

The total number of cases in Maharashtra stands at 11 – 8 from Pune, one from Nagpur and two from Mumbai – kept at isolation wards in the Kasturba Hospital.

WHO declares Coronavirus a ‘pandemic’

The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed to more than 115,000 cases of coronavirus in over 110 countries and the sustained risk of further global spread and declared COVID-19 a pandemic on Wednesday. So far, at least 4,566 people have lost their lives to COVID-19, whereas the number of confirmed cases globally stood at 124,101.

“This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general on Wednesday.

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