Fact Check: Viral Video On Coronavirus Is Old And Is Falsely Attributed to WHO, ICMR

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video going viral on social media claims that World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have issued a warning. It claims that WHO and ICMR warn that India is all set to enter the third stage transmission of the coronavirus and if left unchecked, the total death count by the coronavirus outbreak in India could reach the number of 50,000 by March. The video also shows the logo of News 24 Online.

When Vishvas News investigated and found that the viral video to be fake. The video is in circulation since February 2020 with a fake logo of News 24 Online. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of December 2, 2020, there are 428644 active cases of coronavirus in India and 1,38,122 deaths. As per the data published by WHO, as of March 28, 2020, since the viral video projections, there were 909 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 19 coronavirus deaths in 27 States/UTs of India.

Neither WHO nor ICMR confirmed that India will enter the third stage transmission of the coronavirus in March 2020 and will reach the number of 50,000 by March 2020.

Vishvas News received the video on its Whatsapp Chatbot on December 1, 2020, for fact check.

Claim

A video received by Vishvas News on its Whatsapp Chatbot claims that World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have issued a warning. It claims that WHO and ICMR warn that India is all set to enter the third stage transmission of the coronavirus and if left unchecked, the total death count by the coronavirus outbreak in India could reach the number of 50,000 by March. The video also shows the logo of News 24 Online.

Investigation

Vishvas News investigated and found that the video which we received on Whatsapp chatbot in December 2020 is circulating on various social media platforms since February 2020.

We investigated whether in February 2020, WHO or ICMR made any such statement as in the viral post.

We found a report published in Livemint that stated, ICMR has recently posted that community transmission is likely to happen in India. But, cases may take from twenty days to a month to come forward. 

However, nowhere it was stated that 50,000 people would die in March 2020 due to coronavirus as India will enter stage 3.

Also, we did not find any related statement by WHO as mentioned in the viral post.

Vishvas News spoke to the Technical Officer – Health Emergencies of WHO SEARO regarding the viral post. She said: The video is in circulation for quite a long time. WHO did not make any such statement in February or March 2020.”

We further investigated and found the data published by the WHO. As per the data, as of March 28, 2020, there were 909 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 19 coronavirus deaths in 27 States/UTs of India.

There weren’t 50,000 deaths in India in March 2020 as per the projections in the viral post.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of December 2, 2020, there are 428644 active cases of coronavirus in India and 1,38,122 deaths.

While listening to the viral video and its voice-over, it clearly appeared as fake. There were quality issues in video appearance and breaks in voice-over, The logo was also superimposed in the video.

Conclusion

Neither WHO nor ICMR warned in February 2020 that India the total death count by the coronavirus outbreak in India could reach the number of 50,000 by March 2020. The video is old and fake.

Disclaimer: The #CoronavirusFacts database records fact-checks published since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic and its consequences are constantly evolving and data that was accurate weeks or even days ago might have changed. Remember to check the date when the fact-check you are reading was published before sharing it.

Tags

• Coronavirus
• CoronaVirusFacts
• COVID19