New Delhi: As India is experiencing a sudden rise in number of COVID-19 cases yet again, many states have taken lockdown-like measures and implementing curbs to control the virus. Amidst all the confusion, there are also various fake messages going around on WhatsApp and other social media platforms which are likely to spread fear in minds of people. One such video that is being widely shared claims that the World Health Organization has warned of 50,000 deaths in India due to coronavirus.

The post claimed that WHO-ICMR has warned India of third wave of the coronavirus and if left unchecked, the total death count by the coronavirus outbreak in India could reach 50,000. However, turns out that the video is fake and WHO has not issued any such warning. In a tweet, WHO South-East Asia debunked the fake news and wrote, ”A video claiming WHO has warned of 50,000 deaths in India by 15 April is fake news. WHO has not issued any such warning.”

CLAIM: WHO has warned of 50,000 Covid-19 deaths in India by April 15

FACT: The claim is fake and WHO has not issued any such warning

The government has time and again warned people about such misinformation and asked them to only believe trusted sources.

Meanwhile, India on Tuesday reported 96,982 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the total caseload to 1,26,86,049. On the other hand, over 446 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 1,65,547. In the wake of the rising cases of coronavirus, the Central government on Monday constituted 50 high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams and deployed them to 50 districts across Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab in view of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.