Umesh V Katti, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Karnataka cabinet minister, sparked controversy with his remarks on Tuesday. While going against his own government’s guidelines to maintain Covid appropriate behaviour, Katti stated that wearing masks is not mandatory and is a personal choice.

“The Prime Minister said yesterday night that I will not make it mandatory and that (people) should take responsibility and wear masks.” In this manner, it is left to that person, as well as to myself. I didn’t feel like wearing it, so I didn’t, and there’s no problem,” Katti said, not wearing a mask.

Katti is the Minister of Forests, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs in Karnataka.

His comments come as new Covid-19 infections have risen sharply in Karnataka, bringing the active caseload to over two lakh with the arrival of the third wave in the southern state.

Since March 2020, the test positivity rate in Karnataka has surpassed 22%, the highest among all previous waves.

Many medical experts have described masks and social distancing as the best way to stay safe because they significantly reduce the risk.

Karnataka announced on Tuesday that it had registered 41,457 new infections in a 24-hour period, the highest single-day number ever. The active caseload now stands at over 2.5 lakh, with Bengaluru, the state’s largest and most populous city, accounting for nearly 1.80 lakh of these cases.

According to Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s health minister, up to 20 deaths have been reported.

The statements by Katti come as the BJP continues to blame the Congress, Karnataka’s main opposition party, for the sharp increase in cases following the latter’s 10-day padayatra for Mekedatu, which drew hundreds of thousands of people despite prohibitory orders.

After 287 more people tested positive for the new Omicron variant of the virus on Monday, Karnataka has reported a total of 766 cases of the virus.

Basavaraj Bommai, the Karnataka chief minister, who recently recovered from a bout of Covid-19, has directed all district administrations to take appropriate measures to stop the virus from spreading.

In order to stem the spread of the virus, the state government has imposed night and weekend curfews, as well as restrictions on business establishments and people’s movement.

For more Latest News Updates visit our website- https://www.eastnews.in/

For Arunachal Latest News updates Visit- https://www.eastnews.in/arunachal-pradesh-news/