Fact Check: Has the Maharashtra govt. announced lockdown from March 1, 2021?

A few days ago, a news clipping from tv9 Marathi stated that Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced a lockdown in Maharashtra from March 1, 2021. The news clip also states that the lockdown would last for 15 days. In the news clip, the breaking news banner states that the whole country is observing a surge in the COVID-19 cases. This news has created a lot of confusion amongst the people in Maharashtra. Read on to know a detailed fact check report on Maharashtra lockdown news.

Image credits: Whatsapp forwards

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Fact Check on "Maharashtra Lockdown from March 1, 2021" rumour

• The news clipping that is being forwarded on Whatsapp, is fake. Currently, there is no official news as of yet regarding the complete lockdown in Maharashtra from March 1, 2021. 
• The edited screenshot has the logo of the TV9 Marathi channel, however, the edited news is not true. 
• The original clipping from the TV9 Marathi's Twitter handle states that the forged news clipping, that is being circulated now, is from a year ago on March 22, 2020, when Maharashtra had imposed Section 144 in the state. Here is the tweet from a year ago by the TV9 Marathi channel, which looks similar to the edited screenshot that is being circulated recently. 

• #BREAKING : कोरोना गुणाकार करतोय, आपण वजाबाकी करु, संकट गंभीर, पण सरकार खंबीर, तुम्ही खबरदारी घ्या आम्ही जबाबदारी - मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरे pic.twitter.com/sPVbr40oCC

  — TV9 Marathi (@TV9Marathi) March 22, 2020

• Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had recently mentioned the updates regarding the lockdown via a Twitter live session. 
• Currently, only the regions of Amravati district is observing a lockdown, not the whole state.
• There are also restrictions in Pune, Yavatmal and Akola regions where the govt. has requested the public to not attend or create any kind of social gatherings. The schools and colleges have also been shut in Pune and Yavatmal regions, along with night curfew in Pune and Nashik.
• The Maharashtra CM has stated that if people don't follow social distancing rules and use the masks strictly then the government would be forced to announce a statewide lockdown in 8-15 days. But as of February 23, 2021, there is no such lockdown news in the complete state of Maharashtra.

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Google Trends

Take a look at the number of people searching for the authenticity of the news. The maximum number of searches regarding "Marashtra lockdown from March 1" has been done on February 21. Take a look at the Google Trends snippet proving the popularity of this forged Whatsapp forward stating Maharashtra lockdown from March 1, 2021. 

Image credits: Google Trends

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