A viral WhatsApp message is sending the smartphone owning population of Hyderabad into a tizzy. The message being shared in the form of a WhatsApp status, as well as forwards and in the form of a graphic, claims that everyone should stay indoors at night, as the government is spraying medicine over the city to 'kill the COVID-19'.
The message in full, says, “Hyderabad City Tonight from 11:40 pm nobody should be on the street. Doors and windows should remain closed as 5 helicopters spray disinfectants into the air to eradicate the coranavirus. Please process this information to all of your contacts.”
The above message is false. The Hyderabad civic body has not put out any such notice to the press. There is no official order by the government in Telangana that speaks of any such measures to spray the city with any kind of medicine to combat COVID-19. Besides, there is currently no medicine that has been proven to prevent or cure the infectious novel coronavirus.
The Press Information Bureau of India has also stated that such forwards are fake and has asked people to refrain from forwarding unverified and unofficial information.
Amidst #Coronavirusoutbreak, misinformation on CV Vaccine gas spread out through Airplanes is circulating on social media
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 17, 2020
NO such action has been planned out by the Indian Government.
Get your facts from trusted sources. Do not amplify #fakenews! pic.twitter.com/8F5ksKKBEm
Earlier, a similar message had gone viral in Bengaluru as well. At the time, BBMP Commissioner Anil Kumar had called the forward ‘fake news.’
Telangana is currently a lockdown till March 31, all inter-state borders have been closed for passengers, and public transport has been shut down. Only essential services are functioning People have been directed to remain indoors as far as possible.
The government had announced that one month's ration will be disbursed to those with white ration cards. “2.83 Cr people (87.59 lakh white cards) will receive free ration & financial assistance of ₹1500. Total ₹2,417 Crores to be borne by Govt,” Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao had tweeted.
The number of cases in Telangana currently stands at 33.