K'taka warns medical practitioners against spreading misinformation on Covid-19

In a statement, the government said such misinformation shared on media and social media platforms lead to confusion among the public on the prevailing crisis and encourage them to deviate from the well laid-out guidelines issued by the health and revenue authorities.

The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued a warning to medical practitioners spreading misinformation on the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

 Covid-19 testing near a railway station in Bengaluru. (PTI)

In a statement, the government said such misinformation shared on media and social media platforms lead to confusion among the public on the prevailing crisis and encourage them to deviate from the well laid-out guidelines issued by the health and revenue authorities.

“It has come to the notice of the government that few medical practitioners, while communicating to the public on various media platforms, are giving incomplete, inaccurate and unsubstantiated information about Covid-19,” the statement read.

“Any misinformation/non-factual data on Covid-19 shared on any media/social platform would be deemed as an offence and necessary action would be initiated as per Section 54 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Section 4(k) of Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020,” the statement added.

It urged medical practitioners to exercise caution while communicating with the public on the Covid-19 crisis and asked them to refer to the official guidelines and orders thoroughly before sharing any information on media and social media platforms.

The latest guideline comes after some doctors, who appeared on news channels, allegedly made statements about the pandemic that contradicted facts and could create panic among people, health officials told news agency PTI.

The daily Covid-19 tally in Karnataka saw a reduction on Monday with 27,156 infections, pushing the caseload to 32,47,243. Fourteen patients died on Monday and 7,827 recuperated from the viral disease. With this, the total number of fatalities and recoveries surged to 38,445 and 29,91,472, respectively. The active cases are over 2,17,000.

On Sunday, Karnataka recorded 34,047 cases, 13 deaths and 5,902 recoveries. Amid the rising cases, the Covid-19 positivity rate surged to 20 per cent in two weeks, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, an official told Hindustan Times on Sunday.