Published 14:59 IST, March 27th 2020
Fact Check: Did ICMR warn India of 50,000 deaths due to Coronavirus outbreak?
Fact check: Fake news about India witnessing 50,000 deaths in the near future was going around on the internet but it has since then been proven wrong.
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ongoing coronavirus pandemic has evidently taken over world to become a global pandemic. But, amidst all confusion regarding outbreak itself, are also various fake messs going around on WhatsApp and or social media platforms which are likely to spread fear in minds of people who are reading m. It is important for people to understand which mess is worth investing ir time and attention to.
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Claim -
In one of recent WhatsApp forwards and social media posts, rumours about Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issuing a public warning has come forward. mess claims that India is all set to enter third st transmission of coronavirus. mess also claims that if left unchecked, total death count by coronavirus outbreak in India could reach number of fifty thousand.
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Rating - Mixture
What is true:
In Indian Journal of Medical Research, 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. Besides this, study has made an estimate that 26% of entire population in India is likely to get affected if self-isolation is t practised. Out of which, one individual in every 450 individual is expected to die.
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What is false:
ICMR has t released an estimate of how many people will die due to coronavirus pandemic in India. fake mess circulating around claims that COVID-19 pandemic will cost India 50,000 lives. But this number has t been verified or recognised by ICMR.
Origin
mess first started circulating on WhatsApp. It was later shared by many people on Facebook and or social media platforms. source was t confirmed by many netizens before sharing which evidently has caused paraia on social media. Some netizens went to extent of making fake World Health Organization templates to spread news, as shown above.
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Google Trends analysis of ICMR
fake news about India reaching third st transmission of coronavirus outbreak evidently took internet by storm. This resulted in various people searching for ICMR on Google, resulting in a surge of search volumes. Check it out below -
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14:59 IST, March 27th 2020