{"id":63830,"date":"2020-04-10T17:13:11","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T11:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=63830"},"modified":"2020-04-11T07:10:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T01:40:21","slug":"union-min-vk-singh-cites-fake-whatsapp-forward-about-who-lockdown-protocol-on-national-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/union-min-vk-singh-cites-fake-whatsapp-forward-about-who-lockdown-protocol-on-national-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Min VK Singh cites fake WhatsApp forward about \u2018WHO lockdown protocol\u2019 on national TV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On April 9, Union Minister General VK Singh spoke with <em>India Today&#8217;s Aaj Tak<\/em> about UP government&#8217;s decision to seal affected areas or &#8216;hotspots&#8217; of coronavirus. It was hosted by journalist Rohit Sardana. Before concluding the interview, Sardana asked the minister for his opinion on the question of extending the lockdown.<\/p>\n<p>At 10:36 mins in the interview, Sardana can be heard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zHCRWgek7-E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">saying<\/a>, &#8220;Should the lockdown be extended or if the hotspots are now locked and the rest of the people should be given permission to get little bit free.&#8221;<\/p>\n<iframe style=\"width:100%; height:auto; aspect-ratio:16\/9;\" title=\"VK Singh \u092c\u094b\u0932\u0947 UP \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0905\u091a\u093e\u0928\u0915 \u0938\u0940\u0932\u092c\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u0938\u0947 \u092a\u0948\u0928\u093f\u0915 \u0939\u0941\u090f \u0925\u0947 \u0932\u094b\u0917, \u0905\u092c \u0926\u0947\u0936 \u0915\u0940 \u091c\u0928\u0924\u093e \u0915\u094b\u0930\u094b\u0928\u093e \u0915\u094b \u0939\u0930\u093e\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0924\u0948\u092f\u093e\u0930\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zHCRWgek7-E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>To which, Singh responds, &#8220;See, it would be good if&#8230;<strong>there is one protocol by the World Health Organization. You have done ( a lockdown) for 21-days then you are given relaxation for 5 days and then another 21-days.<\/strong> The way the infection spreads, the way the number of cases has shot up, the percentage has increased, we need to exercise restraint for some more time&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>VK Singh cited a purported &#8220;WHO protocol&#8221; for lockdown according to which, once a country implements a lockdown for 21-days, there needs to be a 5-day hiatus before another lockdown for 21-days is implemented.<\/p>\n<h4>WHO has not issued any &#8220;lockdown protocol&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p>Alt News had earlier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/viral-whatsapp-forward-of-who-lockdown-protocol-is-fake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">debunked<\/a> social media messages which also mentioned the so-called WHO protocol.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63838\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Alt-Claim-WA-2-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Alt-Claim-WA-2-1.png 940w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Alt-Claim-WA-2-1-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Alt-Claim-WA-2-1-768x644.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On April 5, WHO South-East Asia rubbished the messages dubbing them &#8220;fake&#8221; and &#8220;baseless&#8221;.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Messages being circulated on social media as WHO protocol for lockdown are baseless and FAKE.<br \/>\nWHO does NOT have any protocols for lockdowns. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MoHFW_INDIA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MoHFW_INDIA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PIB_India?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PIB_India<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UNinIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@UNinIndia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WHO South-East Asia (@WHOSEARO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WHOSEARO\/status\/1246804406705614848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Union Minister Singh, therefore, cited a fake document accredited to the World Health Organisation.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, it likely that the viral message is based on media reports and a study by Rajesh Singh and R Adhikari of Cambridge University, UK. The duo published the <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2003.12055.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">research paper<\/a> \u2018Age-structured impact of social distancing on the COVID-19 epidemic in India\u2019. The study found that a three-week lockdown is insufficient to prevent a resurgence hence, suggests protocols for lockdown with periodic relaxation. You can read our detailed fact-check <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/viral-whatsapp-forward-of-who-lockdown-protocol-is-fake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63835\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1068\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1.png 1068w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1-300x80.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1-1024x273.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1-768x205.png 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/Screenshot-2020-04-06-at-2.10.36-PM-1-990x264.png 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1068px) 100vw, 1068px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Thus, Union Minister General VK Singh cited a non-existent WHO protocol that was earlier circulating on social media, suggesting periodic relaxations between an elongated lockdown. It may be reiterated that these protocols were dubbed &#8220;fake&#8221; and &#8220;baseless&#8221; by the WHO.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Update: Rajesh Singh and R. Adhikari were referred to as students at Cambridge University. Singh is a post-doctoral researcher while Adhikari is an assistant professor at the University. The same has been rectified.]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On April 9, Union Minister General VK Singh spoke with India Today&#8217;s Aaj Tak about UP government&#8217;s decision to seal affected areas or &#8216;hotspots&#8217; of coronavirus. It was hosted by journalist Rohit Sardana. Before concluding the interview, Sardana asked the minister for his opinion on the question of extending the lockdown. At 10:36 mins in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":63840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"an_content_type":[739],"coauthors":[152],"class_list":["post-63830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","fact_checks_claim_type-news","an_content_type-fact-check"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/VK-Singh-WHO-protocol.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63906,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63830\/revisions\/63906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63830"},{"taxonomy":"an_content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/an_content_type?post=63830"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=63830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}