Zee News Falsely Claims 11 COVID-19 Patients Present in Arunachal, Called Out by Government

Itanagar, April 10, 2020:

At a time when a fake news pandemic is sweeping across the nation, Zee News, a prominent national media channel, has landed in the soup for an unverified and false report on the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

Zee News made this gigantic blunder during a discussion on the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which has been attributed for an uptick in the number of cases. During a recent show, a ticker shown on the channel, written in Hindi, reads: "Coronavirus afflicts 11 Jamaat attendees in Arunachal".

However, as soon as the Government of Arunachal Pradesh was alerted to this report, they lashed out at Zee News for carrying an "inauthentic" report.

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Tweeting out it's reaction to the report, the Arunachal Government clarified, "This is to clarify that Arunachal Pradesh has got only 1 COVID-19 positive case till date. The reporting by Zeenews is false and does not carry any authenticity."

It may be recalled here that a resident of Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh has tested positive for the contagion coronavirus or COVID-19. Inside Northeast sources have confirmed that he had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet on March 16 and has been in quarantine since March 24.

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The Jamaat attendee was found to be COVID-19 positive in Tezu town which falls under the Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh. As precautionary measures, the District Administration has quarantined all those who took part in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in March last.

Meanwhile, Assam has reported its first death due to COVID-19 in the early hours of Friday. 65-year-old Faijul Haque Barbhuyan, hailing from Hailakandi, passed away around 2 AM on April 10 following complications of the virus, informed Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

On Thursday morning Sarma had informed about Assam’s 28th positive case, who had a travel history to Saudi Arab. It may be mentioned here that the Northeastern State saw a spike in the COVID-19 cases soon after the Tabligh Jamaat, an annual religious congregation, held at Nizamuddin Markaz near Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi came to the fore.

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Thousands from across the country and abroad participated in the event. Attendees from Indonesia, Malaysia, Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh had participated in the Tabligh Jamaat held in March. According to reports, 24 out of these had tested positive for COVID-19 and 200 others had shown symptoms of the virus. As many as 1,400 people were believed to have been exposed to the virus now. However, many of them have still not reported to their nearest health centres.

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