The claim that 59 people have been tested positive for coronavirus in Nagpur is false. A fake audio clip was being widely circulated to misinform people. Three men have been arrested for circulating the fake audio file.
In a major step to fight Coronavirus pandemic, India is placed under lockdown for 21 days, till 14 April. Amid all this, a five-minute audio clip of a phone conversation between two men is being widely circulating on WhatsApp. In the audio clip, it is being claimed one man shares various claims related to coronavirus in Nagpur.
A man in the clip informs that 59 people have been tested positive and identified over 200 Covid-19 cases in Nagpur, he also adds that he was informed of these numbers by ‘Nitin’. He further alleges that three doctors were tested positive and “Dr. Kamlesh” is currently on a ventilator due to coronavirus. “His test had to be sent to Mumbai because labs in Nagpur don’t have the capacity to conduct Covid-19 tests nor the staff knows how to conduct it.” (Translated from Hindi)
You can listen to the viral audio here:
In the viral audio also one can also hear the claim that Maharasthra Medical Association has recruited six doctors from Sweden and is seeking approval from the PM. “They will visit for 12 days and test the samples,” the man claimed, adding that news numbers of coronavirus cases were informed to the CM but the information hasn’t been made public yet.
A Facebook user named Mirza Sultan shared a long post making similar claims that a doctor is on a ventilator and in Nagpur 59 people have been found to be coronavirus positive.
The truth behind the claim
In our investigation, we found this audio clip to be fake. According to the latest news report, Nagpur has nine positive cases of Covid 19 till now. The first case of Coronavirus positive case came to Nagpur on March 11.
Nagpur police via Twitter called out this viral audio clip fake. The tweet said, “Extremely irresponsible as well as misleading audio and video clips are going viral in the context of the corona, serious action is being taken against those sending false information or sending false messages. "
The PIB Fact Check of the Government of India too tweeted and said that "An audio clip is circulating on social media claiming that Nagpur has tested 59 positive coronavirus cases including 3 doctors. The assertion made in the audio is fake. Please do not forward such fake audio clips."
On March 27 Times of India reported that after interrogating 35 people, Jay Gupta (37), Amit Pardhi (38) and Divyanshu Mishra (33) have been arrested for circulating the misleading audio file.
News Agency ANI reported the same.
In conclusion, the claim that 59 people have been tested positive for coronavirus in Nagpur is false. A fake audio clip was being widely circulated to misinform people. Three men have been arrested for circulating the fake audio file.
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