Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
Claim :
Seeing the rise of novel coronavirus in India, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the government of India to lockdown the country from April 15 to June 15.
Verification :
Even as the whole country is putting up a united fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, rumor mongering messages and graphics have been flooding social media. An 8 minute long telephonic clip of a conversation between two individuals is doing rounds on social media.
We found that this audio clip is being shared widely on WhatsApp groups.
In the telephonic conversation, one individual can be heard saying and claiming that seeing the rise of the novel coronavirus in India, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that the Government of India lockdown the country from April 15 to June 15 as India is under the high risk zone of novel coronavirus.
The man also claimed, attributing to the WHO Director, that she told him to inform his friends to complete all bank-related work in the next eight days and stock ration for next 2 months.
The viral audio clip was also sent by several readers to Newschecker’s WhatsApp helpline number for verification.
Fact Check:
As we began fact checking the claim, we looked for any orders passed by the Government of India on their official website or on their official Twitter handle. However, we did not find any information to corroborate the same.
While searching the reality of the viral message, we came across the Government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB). PIB Fact Check, the official Twitter handle of the Press Information Bureau department that counters misinformation on government policies, denied the viral message and said “An audio clip of a fake phone conversation between two individuals discussing “complete lockdown” of the country is being shared widely on WhatsApp. The audio clip is FAKE and work of miscreants. Please do not forward it.” PIB Fact Check also urged social media users to seek authentic information from its site and that of the Health Ministry’s.
An audio clip of a #FAKE phone conversation between two individuals discussing “complete lockdown” of the country is being shared widely on #WhatsApp
The audio clip is FAKE and work of miscreants. Please do not forward it. #IndiaFightsCorona #CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/Kjbfp1rPpl
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 20, 2020
To verify the viral claim, we reached out to one of the representatives in India, who rubbished the claim and clarified that WHO has not made any such recommendation.
Conclusion:
It is evident from our fact check that audio clip doing rounds on the social media claiming that the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the government of India to lockdown the country from April 15 to June 15 is false.
Result: False
Sources
Google Search
Media Reports
Twitter Search
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Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
