NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – India posted its lowest number of COVID-19 active cases for 18 months Monday. However, a drop in protective mask use is causing concern following an increase in Omicron-related infections.

It was common for people to stand or sit close to each others at large rallies that were held in many states by various political parties before the elections. Similar events took place before the April disaster in India caused by the Delta type.

The number of cases has fallen sharply over the past few days. As of Monday morning, there was an active COVID-19 total at 91,456 – the lowest level in 561 days according to Health Ministry.

Omicron variants have been reported in at least 36 Indian cases. In the two-week period, they accounted for only 3% of virus sequences in India. Delta is responsible for the remaining. Public covering of the mouth has been encouraged by health authorities.

Vinod Kumar Paul, a top Indian official in health said that the falling use of masks could be costly to India. Mask works for all types of vaccines.

Data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation show that public mask-wearing has dropped to the levels seen before March’s second wave of cases. Present mask-wearing rates are 59%. They’re almost equal to March’s high of 81%, which peaked in May.

On Monday, the country had 7,350 COVID-19 new cases. This brings it to 34.69 millions. The number of deaths rose by 202, to 475 636.