A video clip of a news channel speculating lockdown in 9 districts of Assam is 1 year old, don’t panic

Jan. 18: With the onset of the 3rd wave of Covid-19 pandemic induced by the Omicron variant, the number of new positive cases in the state is increasing by leaps and bounds along with the rest of the country. On Tuesday, out of 63,944 tests, 8,072 persons were detected as COVID-19 positive in Assam. With this, the state tally of coronavirus has now gone upto 6,61,789. The positivity rate in the state is 12.62 percent. There are at present 29,560 active Covid patients in the state.

The constant increase in the rate of positivity in Assam has made people tensed over here. Though Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has almost thrice stated that lockdown will not be imposed in the state and the government is striving hard to strike an equilibrium between life and livelihood, yet many people are scared of an impending lockdown. The panic factor on this issue has become widespread in the state due to a video clip of a private news channel which has now become viral in social media.

The 30 seconds video clip of news channel News Live, now viral in social media speaks about an impending lockdown in atleast 9 districts of Assam where there was a spike in Covid cases. The anchor in the news clip is found to state that “9 districts in Assam has been earmarked as red due to surge in Covid cases. These districts are : Nagaon, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Cachar, Golaghat, Jorhat, Morigaon and Biswanath. The anchor stated that, “After the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, total lockdown is likely to be implemented in these 9 districts of Assam.”

However, on fact check, it was revealed that the viral video clip of a news item of News Live is from the 1st half of 2021, when there was probability of lockdown in these districts. However, this old news clip was circulated by some netizens as new, which gave to rise to panic among the people of the state. Infact, this year, during the ongoing 3rd wave of Covid-19, cases were found to increase in Kamrup Metro, Cachar, Tinsukia etc. However, inspite of this, the Chief Minister has categorically stated that total lockdown will not be imposed in the state, but rather the government would strike a balance between life and livelihood. Hence, there arises no reason for people to panic.

It’s indeed the role of the law enforcing authorities to find the people responsible behind spreading such false false information and thereby giving rise to panic. The fact check of way2barak revealed that the video clip though not fake, yet it belongs to 2021 when the 2nd wave was playing havoc in the state. Concerned citizens have aired the view that police must keep a vigil on the social media platforms and prevent persons from spreading rumours.