The Delhi government has brought in Batman, Superman, and Flash in their fight against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), with the health minister posting pictures of the superheroes in masks on Facebook. The caption on the photographs read, “Heroes wear masks. Put on your mask and save lives. #BeAHero.”
Another post reads, “Not all heroes wear capes, some wear masks.”
Health minister Satyendar Jain also shared a post on how not to wear a mask, with the people in the picture having the mask dangle from one ear, sliding down on their chin, or just covering their mouth.
This comes as the Delhi government increased the fine on not wearing mask in public places from Rs500 to Rs2,000, in view of high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths being reported each day. Delhi on Thursday reported 7,546 new cases and 98 deaths due to the infection. So far, the pandemic has killed 8,041 people in the city and affected over 510,000 people since the first case was reported on March 2 this year.
Jain has maintained that masks are better than lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19, which is largely transmitted through droplets released by an infected person when they talk, cough, or sneeze.
Earlier this week, Jain had said, “The lockdown had been an experiment and what we have learnt from it is that wearing masks can give us the same benefits. Scientifically, masks are the best way to stop the virus. If you see, the lowest positivity rates are recorded in Covid-19 hospitals because the doctors there follow precautions. If everyone follows precautions the spread of the infection can be prevented. And, when it comes to lockdown, some people still go out and they can bring the infection back to their family members.”
Experts agree. “The likelihood of a person getting the infection from another depends on whether the person is contagious, the number of contacts with an infected person, and the risk of infection with each exposure. Now, a lockdown can only cut down the number of contacts you have with an infected person, but a mask also reduces the risk of infection with each exposure,” said Dr Sanjay Rai, head of the department of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
