2020 Bulletin Used to Falsely Claim Vijayawada to Witness Lockdown

We found that the viral bulletin was uploaded by regional news channel NTV in June 2020.

An old bulletin from 2020 was revived to falsely claim that the city of Vijaywada was going to go into a lockdown.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An old news bulletin is being shared on social media to falsely claim that Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada is going to witness a lockdown in the light of coronavirus cases. However, we found that the bulletin is an old one from June 2020.

CLAIM

The nearly two-minute long bulletin is being shared with the claim: “LOCKDOWN IN Vijayawada city FROM MARCH 26th. People living in Vijayawada bring your #groceries , #medicines and all other your needs. (sic)”

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

Facebook user ‘UIB MEDIA’ later deleted the post that claimed that the city in Andhra Pradesh is going to witness a lockdown.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

A Twitter user shared the video saying that it’s viral on WhatsApp as well.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Since the viral news bulletin carried the logo of regional Telugu news channel NTV, we searched on YouTube using keywords ‘NTV Vijaywada lockdown’ and came across a bulletin uploaded on 23 June 2020 that carried the viral visuals.

The video was captioned as: ‘Complete Lockdown Imposed in Vijayawada’.

From 02:25 minutes onwards in the YouTube video, one can see the same visuals as in the viral one.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

News outlets such as India Today and The News Minute had then reported on lockdown being declared in Vijaywada.

However, as per the TNM report, the order that was issued for the city to witness another lockdown for a week from 26 June 2020, was withdrawn within an hour.

Krishna district Collector Md Imtiaz had then reportedly said, “The present situation would continue and fresh orders would be issued in this regard, thereby nullifying his earlier order for a lockdown.”

Further, fact-checking wing of the AP government tweeted that the video in circulation is from June 2020 and that “as of now, there has been no official announcement regarding a COVID-19 induced lockdown in Andhra Pradesh.”

Evidently, an old bulletin from 2020 was revived to falsely claim that the city of Vijayawada was going to go into a lockdown.

Several old videos and bulletins are being revived in the light of rising COVID-19 cases to falsely claim that chief ministers of some states have made recent announcements regarding lockdowns. The Quint’s WebQoof team earlier debunked those involving Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)