Coronavirus / Viral pic claims Amit Shah has been infected with COVID-19; govt says it's fake

An image being shared on social media cites a Hindi news channel claiming Home Minister Amit Shah has been infected with coronavirus. Government agency Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Sunday clarified that the image is fake. "The image is #Fake and aims to spread confusion. Please do not share or forward it," it wrote on Twitter.

Business Insider : Apr 06, 2020, 12:40 PM

New Delhi: The Press Information Bureau has said that an image of a prominent news channel claiming Home Minister Amit Shah has coronavirus is completely fake. The morphed image has been doing rounds on social media since Sunday.

A morphed image being shared on social media cites a prominent Hindi news channel claiming Union Home Minister @amitshah has been infected with #COVID19

The image is #Fake and aims to spread confusion. Please do not share or forward it. pic.twitter.com/3evj8DFUiA
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 5, 2020

The Press Information Bureau of India (PIB), through their fake news detection initiative PIB Fact Check, put out a tweet making the clarification. The PIB Fact Check said, "A morphed image being shared on social media cites a prominent Hindi news channel claiming Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been infected with COVID19. The image is fake and aims to spread confusion." The fact-checker also requested people to not share or forward such fake news on social media.

According to the Health Ministry, the number of active coronavirus cases in the country was at 3,666 as of 9:00 am on Monday. Two hundred and ninety-one people have been cured/discharged, so far 109 people have died due to the coronavirus.