Since last month, there has been a gradual spike in COVID-19 cases in India. On March 15 Times Now reported that Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa met with experts to decide on restrictions and lockdown possibilities. In the backdrop of this, a four-minute clip of CM Yediyurappa announcing details of various restrictions has been widely shared on WhatsApp.

It was also uploaded by YouTube channel Kannada Rathna TV on March 17.

Fact-check

The viral video has been clipped from a section of News First Kannada’s broadcast that aired last year in March. The video is titled on YouTube – ‘Mall, Theatre, School will be shut for A Week in Karnataka’.

A report in Deccan Herald from March 2020 said, “On March 13, the government ordered the closure of malls, theatres, multiplexes, clubs and pubs and other commercial establishments where people gather in large numbers for a week. The government also declared a holiday for colleges and universities.”

BBMP commissioner N. Manjunatha Prasad had also tweeted about the restrictions on March 13.

Thus, a March 2020 clip of CM Yediyurappa announcing restrictions in public places due to COVID has been shared as recent. The Chief Minister has ruled out lockdown and night curfew to contain the recent spread of the virus. However, he said that the government will “strictly regulate” large indoor gatherings that violate COVID protocols.

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About the Author

🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.