Coronavirus / Govt denies declaring holiday in govt offices of 4 states due to coronavirus

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on Friday (March 13, 2020) cautioned against a fake ‘Office Memorandum’ (OM) issued in its name, claiming that holidays have been declared in government offices in four states in view of the Coronavirus disease. 

The fake ‘OM’ says that “holiday is mandatory to all schools, colleges, educational institutes, workplace having more than 10 employees” in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.

This holiday has been ‘declared’ from 14 to 21 March and says that in case of any violation, a fine of Rs 5,000 will be imposed.

The Ministry issued a clarification that read: A fake O.M. from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been doing the rounds today. The fake O.M. is regarding the subject “Clarification regarding the declaration of holidays for the States” and is dated 13th March 2020.

It is clarified that the above mentioned O.M is fake and has NOT BEEN issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. 

The Health Ministry also warned that necessary action under extant law is being initiated in this regard.

Earlier on Friday, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry, said that till now, there have been 81 confirmed coronavirus cases in India, out of which 64 are Indians, 16 Italians and one a Canadian national.

The Health Ministry also uploaded data showing the state-wise breakup of COVID-19 cases on its official website. The data took into account cases compiled till 5 pm on Friday. According to the ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. One person died in Karnataka on Thursday.

Delhi has six cases, all are Indians, while in Haryana there are 14 confirmed cases and all the patients are foreign nationals. Kerala reported most cases: 19 (including 3 who recovered).

After Kerala, Maharashtra has confirmed most cases, at least 14. In Uttar Pradesh 11 cases have been reported, of which, 10 patients are Indians and 1 is a foreigner. There are six cases in Karnataka, including the first death reported in India due to COVID-19.

Rajasthan has reported three cases, of which one patient is an Indian national and two are foreigners. At least one confirmed case has been reported from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir also reported one confirmed case while Union Territory of Ladakh confirmed three cases.

Of the total 81 cases of coronavirus in India on Friday, 10 have so been cured. "Three persons from Kerala have recovered from the disease earlier. Seven more persons have recovered at the Safdarjung hospital today," Lav Agarwal told the media.

According to the Health Ministry, there are at least 64 Indian nationals and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, social media has been flooded with a deluge of misinformation with fact-checkers working round the clock to debunk false claims.