Any huge gathering contributes to a surge in Covid-19 cases as the Omicron variant is highly infectious, Uttar Pradesh's Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh told NDTV when asked if recent political rallies have caused a spike. When pointed out that both the state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen maskless at pre-election events, he suggested it may be an isolated occasion and that the CM insists that everyone around him wears masks. "Before the election announcement, there were a lot of programs scheduled involving the PM and the CM but we decided to call off all meetings and events when we noticed a spike in Covid cases, even before the Election Commission announced the poll dates," he said.
