Mysore/Mysuru: The good intention of the heads of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to create awareness on the precautions to be taken to arrest Novel Coronavirus spread went awry this morning. 

During the launch of online building plan approval, Mayor Tasneem, Deputy Mayor C. Sridhar and Leader of Opposition in the MCC Council M.U. Subbaiah and other officials wore masks as they walked out from their chambers to the meeting hall. They sported bright yellow masks and even attended a short meeting before the actual launch.

However, seeing the city’s First Citizen, Deputy Mayor and others in masks, media personnel advised them to remove the masks as it would spread panic among people in the city who are already worried about the virus scare. Press persons asked the Mayor to remove the masks as so far, not a single case of COVID-19 has been detected in Mysuru.

Taken aback by the sudden questioning by the media group, the Mayor initially fumbled for words but later said that they were just creating awareness about the virus spread and by wearing masks, they were asking people to be more aware about preventive measures.  

However, moments later, the Mayor and others removed the masks and got on to launch the online plan approval system.