New Delhi, Jun 18 (IANS): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that masks are the simplest as well as the most potent and powerful weapon against the coronavirus.

The Minister distributed masks among 'frontline workers' at the Union Health Ministry on Friday.

Vardhan said that although this gesture was symbolic, leading people from various industries, corporate houses and those political leaders holding office, could start a virtuous chain by emulating the exercise, eventually amplifying the 'jan-andolan' to protect everyone from the virus through 'Covid Appropriate Behaviour'.

The aim of the exercise in the Health Ministry is to distribute masks to all employees posted in the Ministry starting with the frontline workers and eventually moving to other staff.

The Health Minister said, "The government worked round-the-clock to stop Covid last year. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we were immensely successful in decreasing the active caseload to a minimum."

However, with the arrival of vaccines early this year and things returning back to normal, people gradually became lax in their adherence to the simple code of Covid Appropriate Behaviour.

"While the virus mutated and evolved itself, we let our guard down. All this compounded in the spike in cases snowballing into the second wave."

"With many corners of India gradually moving towards unlock from the second wave, we cannot afford the laxity and any further increase in cases again," he added.