Press note on COVID-19 declaring restricted movement in India is fake

New Delhi, Mar 19: A press release has been doing the rounds claiming that the government of India has declared restricted movement from March 18 to March 31 2020.

The release states that the National Security Council had a coordination meeting between the government agencies on March 17 2020 to ensure the smooth implementation of the order.

The order further says that the general public is advised to stay home at all times except to fulfil basic needs. It also said that the order will be effective from 12 midnight March 18 2020. The public is required to obey all regulations stipulated by the authorities.

When we contacted several officials in Delhi, they said that the order has not been issued by the government of India. No such order has been issued, officials have also confirmed.

Prasar Bharti too put out a tweet stating that the press release being circulated on the social media is not from India and not for India.

This order is in fact issued by the Malaysian government. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had on March 16 issued this order to restrict movement nationwide from March 18 until March 31 2020 in a bid to stem rising coronavirus cases. The government has decided to implement a movement control order starting March 18 2020 until March 31 2020, the order said.