Bhopal, Dec 2 (IANS): The Madhya Pradesh government has launched a campaign 'no mask, no movement' to encourage people to wear masks and to comply with all measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic amid emerging new threat in the form of a new variant of the coronavirus.

As part of the government's new initiative, the state police will ask the people to wear masks while they are out on the streets, said state Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday.

The steps are being taken in view of increasing threat of a new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has decided to make sure that people are not seen without masks on the streets.

After the second wave subsided, people have stopped wearing masks not only in smaller cities, but also in the state capital Bhopal. Trains, buses, autos and other modes of public transport in any part of the state can be seen where people are travelling without wearing mask with authorities turning a blind eye.

After two cases of the new variant were detected in Karnataka, the Madhya Pradesh government decided to encourage people to wear masks with its campaign -- 'No Mask, No Movement'.

As per the official data, as many as 12 new Covid cases were reported in the last 24 hours in the state, while a total of 128 active cases are there at present. The recovery rate is 98.6 per cent and the infection rate is 0.2 per cent. A total 57,362 samples were tested for Covid019 on Wednesday.

Amid the scare of the new variant, Omicron, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called an emergency meeting to discuss Covid-19 situation and directed all district officials to ensure sufficient supply of oxygen plants, concentrators, ventilators and further increase the number of testing across the state.