Chandigarh, March 19: At the time when the world is struggling to fight against COVID-19, several fake news are creating panic among the masses by spreading misinformation. One such viral message claimed that the Haryana government has announced a complete lockdown on weekends. However, it is old news, which is going viral now amid the rising coronavirus infections in India. The state government has not made any such announcement. Viral Post Claiming Centre Has Ordered to Close All Schools & Colleges And Cancel Exams is Fake; PIB Fact Check Reveals The Truth.

Notably, the viral message also contains a screengrab of a news channel from the last year. The fake message is being widely shared on all social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Twitter. The announcement about lockdown on Saturdays and Sundays was made by the Haryana government last year in August. People are asking questions from the government after the fake news went viral.

Here Are Tweets:

State Minister Anil Vij, on August 21, 2020, tweeted about the lockdown over weekends. Vij, in the tweet, had said, “All offices and shops except essential will remain closed in Haryana on every Saturday and Sunday due to #COVID__19.”

Tweet by Anil Vij on August 21, 2020:

Earlier this week also, a similar fake message went viral. It had claimed that the Indian Railways had cancelled all the trains till March 31, 2021. Later the PIB Fact check team debunked the fake viral message. The PIB Fact check termed the post as fake as no such announcement was made by the Railways.

LatestLY advises readers to restrain from sharing fake news. They should visit official websites for verified information.

Fact check

Haryana To Go Under COVID-19 Lockdown on Saturdays And Sundays? Old News Being Circulated on WhatsApp And Twitter; Here's A Fact Check
Claim :

A viral message claims that the Haryana government has announced COVID-19 lockdown in the state on Saturdays and Sundays.

Conclusion :

The message is fake. The Haryana government has not made any announcement of weekend lockdown in the statement. A news channel's breaking alert shown in the message is old.

Full of Trash
Clean

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 19, 2021 06:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).