COVID Threat: Masks Back In Parliament

New Delhi: Amid fresh concerns over Covid-19, most of the MPs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar were seen wearing masks during parliament proceedings on Thursday.

Speaker Birla came to the House wearing a mask himself, and also said COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise in certain countries.

“We should be vigilant keeping in mind the past trends of the pandemic,” he told the members.

The government on Wednesday advised people to get vaccinated and mask up. It also said that

The Centre has already advised people to get vaccinated and masks up. Random sample testing will be conducted at airports for passengers arriving from China and other countries to track the infection. Besides MPs, masks were also distributed to journalists covering the Winter session of Parliament.

Notably, Covid cases are rising in many countries, especially China, driven by an Omicron variant. BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and is reportedly more infectious than the other variants of coronavirus known so far.