Orders issued to check lockdown panic on social media in Bhopal as COVID situation worsens in MP

By PTI
BHOPAL: Bhopal district administration has issued orders under section 144 of the CrPC against circulating misleading and unconfirmed reports and messages that can trigger panic among people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

District collector Avinash Lavania has issued the preventive orders to check the sharing of unconfirmed, misleading and inaccurate information on social media platforms in the entire Bhopal district, a public relations department official said on Wednesday.

The order stated that circulation of objectionable, derogatory and discriminatory messages, audio-video clips and fake news can cause panic among people in the time of the pandemic.

The violators of the directives will face action under section 188 (offence of disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Information Technology Act.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh recorded 9,720 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the biggest single-day spike so far, pushing the infection count to 3,63,352, said health department officials.

The fatality tally rose to 4,312 with 51 more deaths, also the highest one-day count so far, reported during the past 24 hours, they said.

In this month so far, the state has recorded 67,841 new cases and 326 fatalities.

A total of 3,657 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recoveries in Madhya Pradesh to 3,09,489, the health department said.

With 1,611 new cases, Indore’s caseload went up to 82,597, while that of Bhopal rose to 61,904 with the addition of 1,497 infections.

Indore reported six deaths, taking the toll in the district to 1,017, while fatalities in Bhopal rose to 658 with four more patients succumbing to the infection, it said.

Indore is now left with 9,275 active cases while Bhopal has 6,492 patients under treatment, the department said.

The number of active cases in the state stood at 49,551.

With 44,732 new tests, the number of samples examined for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh rose to 68,72,786.

Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 3,63,352, new cases 9,720, death toll 4,312, recovered 3,09,489, active cases 49,551, people tested so far 68,72,786.