It’s morning rush hour at the Chabahil crossroads on Monday. There is a traffic jam, and dozens of vehicles are inching forward at a snail’s pace when a traffic constable stops a motorcyclist. He does not ask the motorcyclist to produce a driver’s license or the vehicle registration papers but asks why he isn't wearing a face mask. The motorcyclist rummages through his backpack, pulls out a mask and wears it. Then the constable lets him go.

“Along with checking the driver’s license and vehicle registration papers, we are here also to ensure that all motorists are wearing face masks. A part of our job now is also to enforce Covid safety measures,” said Yam Bahadur Chhahari, a traffic police constable deployed at Chabahil crossroads.

“Earlier public bus drivers wouldn’t wear masks, but now they have started wearing after we started checking,” said Chhahari, who is holding a placard that reads, ‘Where’s your mask?’ He is one of the traffic police constables among half a dozen deployed at the crossroads.

Just by his side, a voice over the loudspeaker is urging people to wear masks, maintain social distance and keep Covid at bay.

On Saturday, a day after the country’s Coronavirus death toll crossed the 10,000 mark, the government launched a mask up campaign and traffic police have been asked to ensure that the public complies with the mask regime on the street. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba launched the campaign.

“We have instructed all our 38 traffic units in Kathmandu Valley to ensure that all motorists and members of the public wear masks in public,” said Sanjib Sharma Das, superintendent of police and also a spokesperson at the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

With the daily virus infection rate standing at around 3,000, health experts have been warning that a third wave of the pandemic could hit the country soon if preventive measures are not taken to stem the spread of the virus. Doctors say the national positivity rate is around 25 percent.

According to the Division, 1,400 traffic police have been deployed in the Valley to enforce the mask mandate. “Besides controlling vehicular traffic, they are now looking for people who do not wear masks in public,” said Das.

Every day the Division deploys 700 traffic police each in two shifts — 6am to 2 pm, and 2pm to 7pm.

Although the Covid-19 prohibitory orders imposed since April 29 have not been fully lifted with some restrictions still in place, a semblance of pre-Covid normalcy has returned to the country. Public movement has increased and most businesses have reopened but health safety protocols including mask-wearing and social distancing are being largely ignored. As a result Covid-19 cases have been gradually climbing.

“Although more people are wearing masks since the launching of the #MaskUpNepal campaign, many people are wearing them around the chin while exposing their nose and mouth. So traffic police also ask such people to wear masks properly,” said Das.

Doctors have welcomed the campaign and called for strict enforcement of the mask rule.

“Ever since the first wave hit the country we have been asking the public to wear masks, but that didn’t work,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku, adding, “It is good that the traffic police have been enforcing the rule. But the campaign should not be limited to a few days or weeks.”

He said the government should work to procure more vaccines at the earliest so that everyone is vaccinated at the earliest. “Besides this the government should run an effective awareness programme so that the public follows the Covid safety measures religiously,” said Pun.

Nepal on Monday reported 2,609 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours with 22 Covid-19 related fatalities. Similarly, 1,042 people tested positive in a total of 6,149 antigen tests, according to the Health Ministry.

Monday's data shows that the Kathmandu Valley recorded 959 new infections in the past 24 hours. Of these, 624 cases were confirmed in Kathmandu, 165 in Lalitpur and 170 in Bhaktapur districts.