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Fact-check: Did South African Church pastor make congregants drink Dettol to ‘cure coronavirus’

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Did South African Church pastor make congregants drink Dettol to ‘cure coronavirus’

According to a report published in Kenya Today, a South African pastor Rufus Phala of AK Spiritual Christian Church in Makgodu, Limpopomade his loyal followers to allegedly drink a household disinfectant- Dettol, as a preventive measure against the coronavirus while discharging his duty during a church service. The article said that about 59 people were reported dead while 4 remained in critical condition following the consumption of Dettol.

Though the pastor had a persuasive history of administering his followers with disinfectants such as Jik and Dettol in the past, it cannot be independently verified if the pastor had recently made his congregants consume Dettol to fight the coronavirus. The report of 59 deaths in South Africa because of the consumption of Dettol has not been reported by more credible news outlets. It was published by the Kenyan Report but shortly afterwards taken down. In addition, the feature image of the report published in Kenya Today is old, further raising doubts over the authenticity of the claims made in the report.

Quoting the police investigating the incident, the Kenya Today report said that the pastor persuaded the followers to believe that they could ward off the threat of the novel coronavirus by the disinfectant that had to be administered orally. For those who had already contracted the deadly contagion, the pastor coaxed them into believing that the decontaminant has healing properties that could cure them of the novel covid-19.

While it cannot be independently verified whether pastor Phala indeed try to ‘cure coronavirus’ through Dettol, he did made the congregants drink disinfectants in the past. In 2018, Phala made his followers drink another detergent- Jik, claiming it was Jesus’ blood. The deluded pastor reportedly asserted that he had mysterious power of turning Jik into Jesus’ blood after pronouncing a powerful declaration. Phala attempted to legitimise his methods by citing a story in the Bible where Jesus gives his congregants wine to drink, telling them that it is his blood.

In 2016, pastor Phala had made his followers drink liquid Dettol, claiming them it had secret healing qualities and it will cure them of their ailments. The prophet had then admitted that he knew Dettol was harmful for human consumption but contended that he was struck by an epiphany to advise its oral consumption. He also claimed that he consumed the antiseptic liquid first before giving it to his followers and that many of his ill loyalists called him up to inform him that they had indeed healed after gulping down the disinfectant.

Palestine confirms two positive cases of Coronavirus, both imported from Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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Palestine confirms two positive cases of Coronavirus, both imported from Pakistan

On Sunday, the authorities in Palestine informed that two of its citizens with recent travel to Pakistan had tested positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus. As such, the two infected patients became the first case of COVID-19 in the Gaza strip, one of the most densely populated areas with poverty levels as high as 50%.

The patients had been shifted to an isolation ward at a hospital in the city of Rafah. Around 1,270 people had been quarantined after they entered Gaza from Israel and Egypt. 55 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the West bank. No cases of death had been reported so far in Palestine. Wedding halls and markets have been shut down as precautionary measures.

Deputy health minister Yousef Abu Al-Reesh said, “These two cases were recorded among those who returned to Gaza (and) did not mix with the residents of the Gaza Strip.”

The new development has now created a state of panic in the region with limited testing capabilities. Gaza has only 60 intensive care (ICU) beds for roughly 2 million people. The health system is overstretched due to the acute shortage of staff.

“Everything I am hearing is if the outbreak reaches the magnitude where you need more than 60 ICU beds to treat, it will become increasingly difficult and could well turn into a disaster of gigantic proportions”, the Gaza director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Matthias Schmale was quoted as saying.

Owing to the ongoing conflict between Radical Islamist terror outfit Hamas, and the Israeli Government, the Gaza strip has been under blockade since 2007. This perhaps explains the delay in the arrival of COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Coronavirus: Read how this Saudi-returned woman may have set off a chain of infections including anti-CAA protests in Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Read how this Saudi-returned woman may have set off a chain of infections including anti-CAA protests in Delhi

Even as the central government is scrambling to blunt the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus across India, the anti-CAA protesters have displayed perverse desire to brazenly disregard the enforced strictures and continue their demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Now, it is being widely feared the Jahangirpur anti-CAA protest may soon emerge as a hotspot for the novel coronavirus after one of its organisers was tested positive for the intractable contagion.

The organiser had attended the protest at Jahangirpuri after meeting his sister on March 13th, 2020 who had returned from Saudi Arabia a couple of days ago and was tested positive, the 10th coronavirus case in the National capital. As per a report in Times of India, since then, she has reportedly transmitted the virus to her family members and a doctor too. The viral infection was transmitted to her brother-Tabrez Khan, the organiser of the Jahangiri anti-CAA protests, who was admitted to the LNJP hospital and tested positive for the contagion. Subsequently, her mother and two daughters too tested positive. Besides, a doctor who attended to her initially after she started showing signs of illness was later admitted to Guru Tej Bahadur hospital after he reported cough, shortness of breath and high fever was also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Analysts believe that the woman, ostensibly the 10th coronavirus patient in Delhi or ‘patient-10’, may have set off a chain of Wuhan coronavirus infection in the city. The Delhi Health officials have kept at least 74 people in the neighbourhood who are suspected of contracting the virus have been kept under surveillance. The officials sifted through the CCTV footage of the camera installed near the woman’s house to determine who all people were needed to be put under vigilance.

Health officials are also trying to ascertain people who had come in contact with the woman’s mother and brother Tabrez, who both live in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. As evidenced by the 31st patient in South Korea, who alone accounted for 80 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in the country, health officials are apprehensive that Tabrez could have passed on the pathogen received from his sister to a raft of people at the Jahangirpuri anti-CAA protest which he visited after meeting his sister on March 13.

The health officials are also wary of the mohalla clinic doctor who had tested positive for the COVID-19 but continued treating patients at his clinic from March 12-March 17 after the woman who returned from Saudi Arabia and tested positive for the virus had visited him. The clinic has since then closed down and the district surveillance team is trying to extract the list of patients who visited the doctor between the suspicious time period.

Despite the government orders and sweeping restrictions imposed across the national capital, the anti-CAA protesters have blithely disregarded the preventive health measures and stubbornly carried on their protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. These protest areas such as Jahangirpuri and Shaheen Bagh, where protesters assemble to exhibit their disapproval against the government passed legislation, pose a serious health hazard as the country enters a crucial period of its fight against the spread of the coronavirus. These protest areas provide a conducive environment and means for the virus to transmit and proliferate, quickly transforming the protest sites into coronavirus hotpots that could spark off an irrepressible surge, extrication from which will be all but an impossible task.

Bihar: Muslim foreign nationals found hiding in a Patna Mosque to evade coronavirus testing, locals outrage as they have been ‘preaching’ since January

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Muslim foreign nationals found hiding in a Patna Mosque to evade coronavirus testing, locals outrage as they have been ‘preaching’ since January

As the central and state governments tighten vigil on citizens not complying with the restrictions being imposed on them to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the county, Patna police have detained 12 foreign nationals from a mosque in Patna’s Kurji area. According to reports, these people had hidden in the Mosque located near Gate No. 74 in the locality, with the help of few local Muslims. These people were reportedly hiding, fearing medical examination amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

It is being believed that these foreigners were religious preachers and they have been roaming around freely in Bihar.

When the residents of the area came to know about it, the people protested and started creating a ruckus. As soon as the information of the commotion reached the local police, they raided the Mosque and apprehended the 12 foreigners. Police are currently raiding the entire locality. 

According to reports, these foreigners have been in Patna since the month of January. They have taken shelter in the Mosque with the help of some local Muslims. Since all there documents, like the passport and the visa, are in place, no other action will be taken against them, except that these foreigners will go through a medical examination to check if any of them are COVID-19 positive, after which they would be released.

While the nationality of the foreigners is not clear yet, some media reports have claimed they are from Turkey. Some reports have claimed that they are of mixed nationality, with persons from Iran and some other central Asian nations.

Bihar has reported 2 positive cases of coronavirus so far and 1 death has been reported.

The government is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that coronavirus spread can be contained at stage 2 and that we do not enter stage-3 or the community transmission stage of coronavirus. However, some individuals and communities have been showing a blatant disregard for the government advisory amidst the health crisis.

Many people arriving from coronavirus afflicted areas have evaded home quarantine and have attended social gatherings, only to be tested positive for the virus later, as in the case of singer Kanika Kapoor and several cases in Kerala.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in India has jumped up to 415. The government on Sunday evening imposed a partial shutdown in most parts of the country as the death toll from the novel coronavirus reached seven. PM Narendra Modi has asked the people to strictly adhere to the lockdown advisories. The Union government has asked the states to initiate legal action against the violators.

Moreover, in an attempt to contain the Novel virus, the union government had asked the states to enforce lockdown in 75 districts where Covid-19 positive cases were reported and had also advised that states can expand the area under lockdown based on their assessment. Those 75 districts are spread across 22 states.

Aam Aadmi Party leader makes a classist remark on UP CM Yogi Adityanath, deletes account

OpIndia Staff
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Aam Aadmi Party leader makes a classist remark on UP CM Yogi Adityanath, deletes account

Aam Aadmi Party Haryana leader Sudhir Yadav today took to Twitter to make a cheap, classist jibe on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Sudhir Yadav’s tweet comparing Yogi Adityanath to a ‘peon’

In tweet, Yadav said that Yogi Adityanath looked like a ‘peon’ while playing the gong. He was later on called out by netizens for the unsavoury remark.

Many questioned him why does he hate poor people so much to mock them like this.

However, after he was called out by people for his insensitive tweet, he has deactivated his Twitter account. On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi had addressed nation and appealed to citizens to follow ‘Janta Curfew’, a voluntary self-quarantine where everyone stays at home amid coronavirus outbreak. PM Modi had also appealed to everyone to come out on their balconies and express gratitude to healthcare workers by clapping.

Not the first time

This is not the first time Yadav has indulged in deplorable behaviour. Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India in February this year, Yadav, taking a dig at PM Modi’s wife, tweeted that if Trump were to ask to meet ‘Bhabhiji’, who would PM Modi introduce him to. Prime Minister Modi was married as a minor and it was a child marriage for both. However, they both decided to stay devoted but charted their own paths. Following the question, many other AAP supporters replied with even more derogatory remarks about other women including union cabinet minister Smriti Irani.

Coronavirus: Ahmedabad Police registers case registered against people for playing garba and taking out procession on road during Janta Curfew

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Ahmedabad Police registers case registered against people for playing garba and taking out procession on road during Janta Curfew

Ahmedabad Police has registered a case against a crowd of people for violating section 144 during the Janta Curfew on Sunday. At around 5 PM when PM Modi had urged everyone to come out in the balcony and clap as a gesture to thank the healthcare workers and servicemen, many in the state took out processions, with complete disregard for social distancing and avoiding public gatherings.

Many also danced to garba in middle of the roads, killing the purpose of self-quarantine. Meanwhile, as per reports, many people in Surat, came out of their homes during Janta Curfew with old medical prescriptions. The police immediately sent them back home. Many youngsters were found shooting videos by riding triple seat on the bikes in middle of the curfew.

As of now, Gujarat has 29 people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Anti-CAA protests postponed in Lucknow, Shaheen Bagh almost empty amidst Coronavirus scare

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-CAA protests postponed in Lucknow, Shaheen Bagh almost empty amidst Coronavirus scare

The protests orchestrated against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by Muslim women for several months now in Ghataghar area of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh has been called off in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. They have however warned that the protests would continue after the pandemic is over. The same has been confirmed by ACP Chowk Durga Shankar Tiwari.

This decision came after several Anti-CAA protestors continued to sit near the Clock Tower in Lucknow to protest against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, defying the call given by Prime Minister Modi to observe Janata Curfew on Sunday to control the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

16 districts of Uttar Pradesh namely Lucknow, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Aligarh, Moradabad, Lakhimpur Kheiri, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Azamgarh, Meerut, Gorakhpur and Saharanpur have been locked down by the Yogi Adityanath-led government until March 25, starting from March 22. Only essential services will remain operational during the said period.

“Unnecessary crowding should be avoided, and people should avoid gathering in public places. This is because as we are standing at a juncture, where even a slight laxity can prove to be harmful”, The Chief Minister was quoted as saying.

He added, ” We are going to completely shut down the inter-state connectivity of Uttar Pradesh. No bus from UP will go to Nepal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or any other state. Do not perform any religious functions collectively. Avoid visiting the temples, mosques and gurudwaras “

Shaheen Bagh protestors had earlier announced that they will go unabated about their business on Sunday in complete defiance of Janata Curfew that was meant to promote social distancing. However, since morning only two grannies and three women were seen sitting at the protest venue while the entire venue remained empty.

Locals said that the protestors had decided that no one would come around the protest venue, keeping the Janata Curfew in mind. Also, no men would be allowed at the protest venue. The Muslim women there have reportedly claimed that several people had lost their lives during the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots and they do not want anyone to lose their lives due to the coronavirus. As such, disinfection and other precautionary measures had been undertaken.

In a viral video, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Shashi Tharoor shares dubious claims hailing Kerala govt from a hoax site, then refuses to delete it because ‘it is viral now’

OpIndia Staff
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Shashi Tharoor shares dubious claims hailing Kerala govt from a hoax site, then refuses to delete it because ‘it is viral now’

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had shared a story hailing Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan for his so-called efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in Kerala in a portal called Britishherald.com. The title of the story read, “A masterclass in tackling COVID-19 from Kerala, India”

Tharoor’s tweet read “Kerala earns international kudos for its valiant efforts to tackle the COVID-19 crisis with efficiency”.

Shashi Tharoor sharing unverified news

However, the site Britishherald.com has long been debunked as a hoax site, the Magazine brand ‘British Herald’ was acquired by a Kerala-based businessman named Ansif Ashraf in 2018, as per a report in BoomLive. Many Twitter users had pointed out the issues regarding the authenticity of the site to him.

Also, the article in the Britishherald.com is similar to an article in another website called ‘Americanbazaronline’ where an author named Ahffan Kondeth had written an article titled, “India’s Kerala State Shows How To Fight Coronavirus”.

In that article, arguments are made in favour of Kerala on the basis of that it is the only Indian state that is ruled by the Communist Party, the ruling BJP has only 1 seat in the Assembly, and all religions in Kerala exist peacefully, slyly insinuating that other Indian states do not have ‘peacefully co-existing’ religions because they are not ruled by the Communist party.

The article does not provide any factual data in terms of the number of infected patients, recovery rate, rate of successfully recovered patients or how far the state has been able to restrict infected patients from defying isolation and infecting others. It just sings praises for the Communist government and Kerala on the basis that “Kerala has been doing better than other states of India and some provinces of Europe and USA because it has a high literacy rate, is ruled by a Communist government and is ‘experienced’ to fight epidemics because it had faced a Nipah virus outbreak in 2018. No data, figures or statistics are provided.

Both the Amaricanbazaronline article and the British Herald article also write ‘how’ Kerala is handling the coronavirus outbreak. They say that a massive awareness programme is underway, individuals arriving from abroad are being screened at the airport, suspected persons are taken to local government hospital’s isolation ward for further tests, provided treatment and testing free of cost etc. But, interestingly, the same is true for every Indian state. It does not make Kerala any different and special from other states.

Kerala praising article in ‘Americanbazaronline’

Both articles also claim that the people in Kerala are ‘aware’ and conscious and hence they are avoiding mass-gatherings, weddings etc. An argument now laughable because a single person fro Kasargod is now believed to have infected an unknown number of people because he hid his travel history, attended weddings, family functions, a football match and is unwilling to reveal the names of person he came in contact with because it is suspected he had smuggled gold from the gulf. As per reports, over 600 persons from Kasargod are now under observation because of that single person. A family from Patthanamitha who had evaded quarantine after their return of Italy earlier this month also finds no mention in the articles.

Shashi Tharoor, however, after being made aware of the issues, refused to delete the tweet from the alleged hoax site, claiming that the tweet has been there for over 24 hours and has been shared by over 1000 people.

Shashi Tharoor’s tweet

It is surprising that the only argument Tharoor has for not deleting his tweet is the said tweet has been there for over 24 hours and has been ‘shared and liked by thousands of people’. It is also notable here that Tharoor’s acknowledgement tweet is not done as a reply to the original tweet sharing the article, but has been quoted separately. A separate tweet quoting his original tweet is less likely to be noticed by normal users, and by people who had replied to his original tweet. A senior Congress leader and a so-called ‘intellectual’ refusing to delete a tweet sharing questionable articles from a hoax site just because it has gone viral already is indeed surprising.

Many Twitter users have asked Tharoor to delete the previous tweet or share his acknowledgement tweet as a reply to the original or share an acknowledgement in the form of a screenshot of the deleted tweet.

It is, however not the first time that Shashi Tharoor has fallen for fake news and hoax sites. In the past, Tharoor has been found sharing fake news from an Islamist website to attack the Modi government. He had also once called a Kerala HC judgement, available on government records, as ‘fake’.

Coronavirus: Delhi Police registers case against man for spitting on Manipuri woman and calling her ‘corona’

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Delhi Police registers case against man for spitting on Manipuri woman and calling her ‘corona’

The Delhi Police on Monday registered a case against a man who allegedly spat on Manipuri woman and called her ‘corona’. The incident allegedly took place in Vijay Nagar area of North Delhi on Sunday night.

Twitter user Akhu Chingangbam took to Twitter to narrate the incident where a middle aged man allegedly spat on the woman before fleeing from the spot. As per journalist Raj Shekhar Jha, an FIR has been registered at Mukherjee Nagar Police Station and investigation is currently underway.

Read: Islamists attack cricketer Mohammad Kaif for supporting PM Modi’s Janta Curfew and thanking healthcare workers

A case under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code is registered for insulting modesty of a woman.

Islamists attack cricketer Mohammad Kaif for supporting PM Modi’s Janta Curfew and thanking healthcare workers

OpIndia Staff
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Islamists attack cricketer Mohammad Kaif for supporting PM Modi’s Janta Curfew and thanking healthcare workers

As the entire country thanked the healthcare workers and servicemen who are sticking their neck out amidst the coronavirus outbreak, many celebrities, too, joined in. Cricketer Mohammad Kaif along with his family came to the balcony at 5 PM and joined the nation.

He was attacked by rabid Islamists who accused him of forgetting his roots after having earned so much money. One Islamist also attacked Kaif’s wife and questioned him whether she has not heard of Fatima Zahra, youngest daughter of Prophet Mohammad and one of his wives, Khadija.

He was also asked to recite namaaz to fight coronavirus.

One SK Mojaffar had a complete meltdown and said that clapping is the work of ‘beggars’ and not someone like Kaif and continued to give moral lessons to Kaif.

One SK Mojaffar had a complete meltdown on seeing Kaif’s video

The hate continued on Instagram, too, where Kaif had shared the video.

Hate comments on Mohammad Kaif’s Instagram.
Hate comments on Kaif’s Instagram

On Thursday, in his address to nation, PM Modi had urged Indians to stay at home on Sunday and have a 14-hour Janta curfew. He had urged people to come to the balconies at 5 PM to thank the healthcare workers by clapping in appreciation while maintaining social distancing.

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