The country’s heart and capital, Delhi recorded 1,904 new Covid-19 cases on March 29. With this, the number of active cases in the Capital touched 8,032. This is the highest it has been since December 22 when there were 8,735 active cases. An ABP News bulletin of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal announcing a lockdown in the Union Territory till 31 March has gone viral on social media, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.
In this viral video by “ABP News” which is being shared widely one can clearly hear Arvind Kejriwal is announcing a lockdown. In the 2-minute-45-second video, the Delhi chief minister gives instructions related to the lockdown.
An excerpt of his statement in Hindi translates to, “If we wait for the number of cases to increase and then impose a lockdown, our hospitals and the entire health infrastructure might not be able to deal with it. This can lead to a rise in the number of deaths. That is why we have decided that a lockdown would be imposed in Delhi which would start from tomorrow 6 am. This will continue till 12 pm on March 31.” All public transport services and private buses, taxis, autos, and rickshaws are to shut down barring DTC buses, which were allowed to function at 25 percent capacity to cater to essential services’ personnel. All shops and offices will be closed, and state borders are to be sealed if lockdown is imposed again.
Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral video is from last year when lockdown was announced in the Capital. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain recently said that as of now, there is no plan to impose a lockdown in Delhi. In a press conference on March 22, 2020, Kejriwal had announced a lockdown in Delhi from the following day till March 31. This was later extended as the central lockdown also came into force.
The clip circulating on social media is a portion of the “ABP News” video of the same press conference. The viral part can be seen at three minutes into the video.
Evidently, an old news bulletin has been revived to falsely claim that lockdown has been imposed in Delhi.
