A video of prime minister Narendra Modi making a public announcement that there will be a 21-day lockdown in the nation has gone viral. Those sharing the video clip are linking it to the recent reports on HMPV cases in India.
The video clip, shared by a Facebook user, has a screenshot of a Hindi headline by ABP News that reads, ‘First case of HMPV virus in India found, an eight-month-old child was affected by it.’
Hyderabad doctors have said that people need not panic over HMPV.
HMPV is not a new virus. It is an old and existing virus, found in every country, said doctors. In a common person’s parlance, it is common cold. This virus has mild respiratory symptoms, similar to the flu, such as cough, fever and blocked nose and it primarily affects young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video was from 2020 when PM Modi announced a 21-day lockdown to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On searching with relevant keywords, we found the same video of PM Modi uploaded on YouTube by Hindustan Times on March 24, 2020. It was titled “'Type of curfew': PM Modi declares 21-day lockdown over COVID-19 l Full speech”.
At around the 9:11-minute mark, we can hear the prime minister making the same statement in the viral clip.
The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ‘total lockdown’ for 21 days in India to combat coronavirus pandemic. This lockdown will be in place for 21 days and more stringent than Janta Curfew, he added. The Prime Minister described the situation in different countries due to the pandemic that has infected more than 3.5 lakh people and killed over 16,000. All essential items will however be available, the PM added.”
The video was also shared by NDTV on March 25, 2020.
Regarding HMPV cases, we found that the Union government has asked States (provide link for this) to be on alert but has not announced any lockdown measures.
Hence, the claim is false.
