A charity organisation helping the fight against the spread of COVID-19, Masks4All has applauded government for declaring mandatory wearing of face masks in public areas.

Government has on Friday gazeted rules and regulations under the Public Health Act, which will among other measures, see the mandatory wearing of face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Commenting on the development, Production Coordinator at Masks4All Ronald Ngwira said the move is progressive towards containment of the pandemic.

“The news is great to hear that government have considered mandatory wearing of masks and we would like to see how this will going to be enforced,” he said.

Ngwira has however appealed to authorities to work on means of ensuring that the vulnerable population have access to the face masks too if the measures are to be effective.

“We have been raising funds and making masks, distributing for free so with such directive there is need for concerted efforts towards ensuring those who don’t have masks must be provided too,” he said.

According to the gazetted act, any person who does not wear a face mask in public shall be liable to a fine of K10, 000.