COVID-19 cases are on the rise yet again across different states in India and in this backdrop, posts related to curfews and strict guidelines to contain the spread of the deadly virus are being widely circulated on social media. Many of them however are fake.
A Facebook user shared a video claiming that a lockdown has been announced in Sikkim from March 25 to March 30, 2021.
सिक्किम सरकारद्वारा घोषणा गरिएको लक-डाउनबारे मुख्यमन्त्रीका राजनीतिक सचिव जेकब खालिङको जनसन्देश”, reads the Facebook post.
Translation: Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Jacob Khaling’s public message on the lock-down announced by the Sikkim government
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found the claims attached to the video are misleading.
Firstly, we ran a Google search based on these keywords and did not find any report stating that Sikkim is going under lockdown.
Secondly, we found that the Sikkim administration on March 18, imposed night curfew, ordering all commercial establishments to shut by 10 pm every day to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
Order from Home Department, Government of Sikkim, regarding measures to contain Covid-19. @PMOIndia @PIBHomeAffairs @MoHFW_INDIA @PsTamang @PIB_India @PIBGangtok @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts @DrJitendraSingh pic.twitter.com/lx1EtsqKVu
— sikkimgovtipr (@sikkimgovt) March 18, 2021
The state government also restricted vehicular movement between 10.30 pm and 6 am, except for emergency purposes. The restriction does not apply to commercial goods vehicles including LCVs and vehicles on emergency duty.
Further, we found a video on The Voice of Sikkim stating the announcement of lockdown in Sikkim is baseless.
We also checked the official government website and found a notice dated March 24, 2020, stating that a complete lockdown was announced in the state w.e.f March 25, 2020, to March 31, 2020.
This proves that the video being circulated is about the lockdown imposed in 2020 and no recent instructions regarding any fresh lockdown have been issued by Sikkim government as yet.
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