Ranchi, June 18: The Jharkhand government on Thursday banned the consumption of all types of tobacco products at public places across the state. The decision has been taken tin view of rising COVID-19 cases in the state. The complete ban on all types of tobacco products is mainly done to prevent spitting in public places that could increase the spread of coronavirus infection. In Jharkhand, one more cioronavirus death was reported taking the death toll in the state to 10. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state mounted to 1,895 with 56 fresh cases till Thursday afternoon. World No Tobacco Day 2020: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Bats for Total Ban on Tobacco, its Products.

On May 8, the state had banned the manufacture, sale and storage of 11 brands of pan masala for a year stating that these products contain a chemical which is harmful to the heart and can cause various diseases. "So, for the interest of public health, the ban has been imposed (on the 11 brands) for one year. Any violation of this order shall entail strict action under the appropriate sections of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Indian Penal Code," it said.

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Jharkhand becomes the third state after Maharashtra and Bihar to impose a ban on pan masala. In May, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had appealed to all states and Union Territories to ban sale of tobacco products. Vardhan had also urged States to ban spitting in public places in line with the orders of the Rajasthan and Jharkhand governments to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.

The Health Minister, in a letter to all state health ministers, said smokeless tobacco users have a tendency to spit in public places or otherwise and therefore, increase health risks especially those of spreading contagious diseases like COVID-19, tuberculosis, swine flu, encephalitis and others.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2020 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).