Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 13: Taking a dig at people who wear masks without covering nose and mouth for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the chin does not need protection.
“Your chin does not need the protection of a mask but your nose and mouth do,’’ the vice-president of the National Conference (NC) said, adding that use a mask for the sake of one’s own health not because one will be fined if seen without it.
Taking to micro-blogging site twitter Omar said, “This tweet is for all the people I’ve seen on TV, on the streets & around me. Your chin doesn’t need the protection of a mask, your nose & mouth do. Use a mask for the sake of your own health not because you will be fined if you don’t”.
He also re-tweeted a tweet of 56th Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo which read “One is a mask. The other is a chin guard. No one told you to wear a chin guard. Wear a mask”.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate (DM), Srinagar, Dr Shahid Choudhary concerned over the reports of people not wearing masks in the city and outskirts, said that the fine for face mask violations has been enhanced to Rs 1,000 whereas the violation of social distancing guidelines in Red Zones will be fined at 10000 rupees. There will be other punishments too, he said.
In another tweet, Omar sought help from a recovered COVID-19 patient to donate plasma for a woman saying what better gift can a COVID survivor can give to celebrate his or her recovery than to help someone else recover.
The tweet read, “ I hope someone comes forward to help Rameez by donating plasma for his mother. What better gift can a #Covid_19 survivor give to celebrate his/her recovery than to help someone else recover. If we start to #PayItForward so many more people will benefit”.
He was responding to a tweet which reads “ My mother has been quite critical of COVID positive at SKIMS, plasma two points might be needed, if anybody is willing to donate . Kindly help saving life. Handfolded plea to any COVID survivor”.