BA.2 variant affect people across the world. Some of us have misunderstood mandatory use of a mask which has been withdrawn means no fear of acquiring infection," Dr Gangakhedkar, ex- head scientist at ICMR said.
Gangakhedkar further said there has been no evidence of new variant so far. "Those who are older, those who have not taken vaccines, those who have got infected so far, need to remember to use a face mask," he added.
The country's coronavirus cases have more than doubled to over 2,000 infections in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally of active caseload to over 12,000.
News agency PTI reported that India's effective reproduction number (R) for Covid, an indicator of how quickly the infection is spreading, has increased to over one for the first time since January.