New Delhi: Amid an exponential rise in coronavirus infections in the state, a fake media report claiming that the Narendra Modi-led Centre is planning to declare a nationwide lockdown has gone viral on social media. “In an unprecedented measure, the government is likely to announce a lockdown across the country to curb the spread of COVID-19”, the report claimed since India has been recording over 2.5 lakh cases from the past few days.  However, the Press Information Bureau (PIB), govt’s fact-checking arm debunked the report and termed it fake.

Debunking the claims, PIB in a tweet wrote, “A media report claims that government is likely to announce a nationwide lockdown all across the country to curb the spread of COVID19. This claim is Fake”. 

CLAIM: The Government of India is planning to impose nationwide lockdown amid rising covid cases

FACT: The claim made in the report is fake. 

Prior to this, PIB had also dismissed a fake message that claimed total lockdown will be imposed in India from April 15 till April 30. Notably, a morphed picture of PM Modi alongside Hindi text that reads ‘Total Lockdown In India From April 15 till April 30’ was widely circulated on social media. Later, the PIB dismissed the report.

The Press Information Bureau launched this fact-checking arm in December 2019, to curb misinformation and fake news prevalent on the internet. It claimed that its objective was “to identify misinformation related to government’s policies and schemes that are circulating on various social media platforms”.

Note: Government has time and again asked citizens not to respond to such fraudulent messages until and unless an official announcement is made.