Bengaluru: Taking a cue from States like Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal and Haryana that have banned the sale of firecrackers this year due to COVID-19 pandemic,  the Government of Karnataka is likely to follow the suit in the interest of Corona positive recovered and recovering patients.

Meanwhile, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar said this has been referred to the health experts and members of Technical Committee on COVID, who will study and give their feedback to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. The CM will take a final call in this regard in a day or two. He said health experts have explained him that the smoke emanating from the firecrackers would cause breathlessness for COVID patients. Besides, it would also cause problems for patients with respiratory ailments.

The Union Health Ministry is likely to issue fresh guidelines in the next two to three days banning the sale and bursting of firecrackers during Deepavali in the wake of prevailing pandemic across the country. This fresh set of guidelines will help the State Governments to impose the ban on firecrackers.