India TV Fact Check: A video clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going viral on social media with claims that he has announced a lockdown after HMPV cases were reported in India. However, when we fact-checked this claim, this claim has proved to be fake and the viral clip is from March 2020.
What is going viral?
A post is going viral on social media following the detection of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in India. The post includes a video clip of Prime Minister Modi, with a claim that he has announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown starting at midnight due to the virus.
A Facebook user named Kushwaha King shared a post on January 8 featuring a video clip of PM Modi, claiming that he announced a 21-day lockdown due to the first case of HMPV in India, with an 8-month-old child being infected. Along with this, it is written, "Lockdown will be for 21 days, the first case of HMPV virus found in India, 8-month-old child infected."
India TV did investigation
As the video was circulating widely on social media platforms, we decided to investigate the claim. We first did a Google Open Search to verify whether the government had announced a lockdown in the country due to the virus. However, no credible news reports supporting this claim were found. Further, we checked PIB, the Ministry of Health website and X handles, but did not find any such information.
However, we found a PIB report of January 7 which states that Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava chaired a virtual meeting with states and union territories to take stock of respiratory illnesses and HMPV cases in the country and public health measures for their management.
During the meeting, it was reiterated that the data from IDSP does not indicate any unusual rise in influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI) cases anywhere in the country, the statement said. She advised states to strengthen and review the ILI/SARI surveillance. The states were also advised to enhance information, education and communication (IEC) and awareness among people regarding the prevention of transmission of the virus with simple measures such as washing hands often with soap and water; not touching eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands; avoiding close contact with people exhibiting symptoms of the disease; and covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
New, we extracted the key frame from the viral clip and used Google Lens for a reverse search and found several videos of PM Modi. A video news report featuring the same viral clip was posted on Aaj Tak's website dated March 24, 2020, which confirmed that PM Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from midnight due to the coronavirus pandemic. A related article was also published on the India TV website on the same date. This clearly indicates that the viral video clip of PM Modi is from March 2020, when he declared a 21-day lockdown in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
What came out in fact check?
A fact check done by India TV has revealed that the viral clip is from March 2020 when PM Modi had announced a 21-day lockdown due to COVID-19. PM Modi had not announced a lockdown due to HMPV cases in India, People are advised to be cautious of any such post.
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