Even as the whole country has put up a united fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, false claims and misinformation have been flooding the social media.
In the latest instance, an ‘Office Memorandum’ being widely circulated on social platforms claims that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has issued a clarification on its earlier OM with regard to declaration of holidays in four states—Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim.
According to the circular, which later turned out to be fake, the ministry has declared holiday in these states from March 14 to 21, and a fine of Rs 5,000 will be imposed in case of any violation.
Interestingly, the name of Under Secretary Rajender Kumar has been spelled as Rajendra Kumar in the fake circular. The word 'Gujarat' is also misspelled.
The original circular issued by the health ministry on March 5
The original circular was issued on March 5. With the fake circular, which is dated March 13, going viral on Facebook and Twitter, the Press Information Bureau issued a statement on Friday, saying the OM is fake and action is being initiated against the culprits.
