In view of increasing COVID-19 cases in few states namely Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi, a post enlisting 21 precautionary measures to be followed is being shared on various social media platforms. The post further claims that this list has been issued by the ICMR or Indian Council for Medical Research.
We received the message from our readers, so we tried our way to find out the truth. We at News Sense first started our fact checking with a simple search on ICMR’s official website and its official social media accounts, but could not find any such information related to the precautions to be followed in view of COVID-19.
So, we reach out to ICMR, and spoke to Dr R.R Gangakhedkar of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), he thoroughly rejected the claim and said “it is absolutely rubbish and complete fake news”.
Such a list of do’s and don’ts has also come up last year around this time and was doing rounds on various social media platforms, at that time also News Sense debunked the message with an official confirmation from ICMR. Click the heading for the story – Fact Check: No, ICMR has not issued the list of 21 do’s and dont’s.
All this investigation establishes the fact that these precautions are not recommended by ICMR.
As the rate of new COVID 19 cases is increasing in India, we have to be cautious no doubt, but by sharing such misleading information’s one can create a situation of panic in the society. So, don’t share such information without proper verification.
Claim: List of precautions issued by ICMR in view of the second wave of COVID-19.
Conclusion: ICMR has not issued any such precautions and hence the post is Fake.
NB: Don’t share or forward any misleading information on your social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, by doing so you are also becoming someone, who is creating panic and confusion among the larger mass and this is a punishable offense.
