Uttar Pradesh, which recently saw a spurt in COVID-19 infections, is now witnessing a slide in fresh cases with 8,737 new cases being reported on Tuesday taking the statewide tally to 16,37,663, a senior government official said. The number of active cases has also come down to 1,36,342, while that a total of 14,83,249 people have so far recovered and have been discharged from hospitals bringing the recovery rate in the state to 90.60 per cent.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said, the state reported 255 fresh deaths taking the COVID-19 toll to 18,072, among the active cases, 99,891 are in home isolation, he said.
Amid this, a viral video on social media claimed that an old man living in Bijauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut stopped Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath from entering a lane by using a cot. The chief minister had on May 16 visited Noida, Meerut and Ghaziabad to review measures being taken to tackle the deadly wave of Coronavirus. Yogi Adityanath had also visited several areas in Meerut and the viral video was recorded in one such locality of Bijauli village.
The 70-second-long viral video shot on a mobile phone from the terrace of a building shows the chief minister standing in front of a makeshift barricade with folded hands. A coterie of security persons can be seen behind him. He interacts with an old man standing on the other side of the barricade for some moments before leaving. Netizens shared the video with a caption, “An old man in village Bijaouli, Merrut placed his cot (Khatia) at the entrance of the road and very firmly asked UP CM Aditynath “It’s enough, we don’t need you here”. He didn’t allow Aditynath to enter his village. Eventually, CM has to go back”.
On thoroughly searching for the full video, a video came on, which was the full version of the video, in which Yogi Adityanath can be heard saying, “Stay careful, wear masks and old people should not go out of their homes. Ok, take care, and please wear a mask, everyone.” There is no retaliation heard, and also, in the full video, one can hear people hailing Adityanath; this part of the video is edited in the viral video.
Meerut Police also replied to one of the viral tweets and said that the claim is false. Meerut Police tweeted, “Your social media post is not based on fact and comes under the category of misleading and hoax. The respected Chief Minister went to meet the family of the covid patient in the containment zone and ask about his well-being. The family was asked about how the doctor was treating them and if they were being given medicines, in response to which the family showed satisfaction. After this, other villagers also hailed CM. He also visited the Primary Health Centre of the village and interacted with the Rapid Response Team and Gram Panchayat members. He also visited the Bijauli oxygen plant, gave necessary instructions, and left. As it is a containment zone hence, there is a cot, and ropes are tied. So please do not spread fake news as legal actions will be taken.”
Also on May 17, 2021, Dainik Jagran published an article. According to the article, Yogi Adityanath went to the residence of a BJP worker in Bijauli village to ask about his well-being. The people of the village were charmed by his presence. The story further said that Yogi Adityanath, while leaving the residence of a BJP worker, noticed that an old man in the adjacent street was not wearing a face mask, so he requested him to wear it. The old man instantly accepted Yogi Adityanath’s words and wore the mask. The article does not speak about an old man asking Yogi Adityanath to leave.
Thus, the viral video with the claim is false.
