By Srijit Das
An old video from 2020 where Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces a nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to curb COVID cases has been revived on social media platforms as a recent notification from the central government amid reports of rising COVID infections in China.
According to news reports, China is struggling to battle the recent surge in COVID-19 cases along with shortage of medicines. A report from Reuters stated that a hospital in Shanghai recently informed its staffs to be ready for a "tragic battle" as it expects millions of people could become affected in the upcoming days.
Meanwhile, the COVID scare led Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to review the status of necessary medicines in the country on December 29; pharmaceutical manufacturers have also been asked to be prepared with essential drugs to tackle any emergency. The central government has also announced mandatory RT-PCR test from January 1 for travelers coming to India from China, Japan, Thailand and few other countries.
The video is being shared with the caption, "All India Lockdown starat/// Today Night 12:00/full video news channel me hai". (sic.)
Click here to view the post.
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Video from March 24, 2020
BOOM was able to ascertain that the video is from 2020.
We ran a related keyword search on Prime Minister Of India's official YouTube channel and found a longer version of the same video was streamed live on March 24, 2020.
The announcement was telecasted with a caption, "PM Modi addresses the Nation on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19".
The clipped segment, which is now being circulated as a recent notification, can be watched from 6:41 minutes to 10:25 minutes.
PM Modi, during the address, mentioned a complete 21-day lockdown across the nation from midnight urging everyone to maintain social distancing. He also requested the people to not follow any medication not advised by doctors and to be alert from falling for any superstitions or rumours during such times.
We also found a tweet by the central government's fact checking handle PIB Fact Check from December 24 debunking a claim related to rumours of recent lockdowns.
The tweet said that Indian government has not taken any decision in response to a similar claim of imposing a nationwide lockdown for 7 days from midnight.
Click here to view the tweet.
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