Fact Check: Govt to re-impose strict nationwide lockdown from December 1?

With the number of coronavirus cases witnessing a surge amid the ongoing festival season, rumours about the government planning to re-impose nation-wide lockdown are doing the rounds.

Several European nations such as France, Britain have been forced to announce second phase of lockdown amid rising cases of COVID-19.

Will the Government of India follow suit? A tweet by a Hindi television channel said that the government is likely to announce complete lockdown from December 1 to control coronavirus cases.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has rubbished the news about the reimposition of lockdown. It said that the government is not planning any such move.

Responding to the tweet by the channel, the PIB said," A tweet allegedly posted by a prominent media outlet claims that due to the growing number of COVID19 cases in the country, the Govt

Refuting such claims on social media, the fact check wing of the Government’s Press Information Bureau said the tweet is morphed and there is no such plan under consideration as of now.

Debunking the fake news, PIB, in a tweet wrote, ”A tweet allegedly posted by a prominent media outlet claims that due to the growing number of #COVID19 cases in the country, the Govt. is going to re-impose a nationwide lockdown from 1st December #PIBFactCheck: This tweet is #Morphed. No such decision has been taken by the Govt.”

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”.