No, There Will Not Be A Lockdown In Delhi From June 18

The Press Information Bureau's (PIB) official fact-checking Twitter handle rubbished a viral Whatsapp message that was doing the rounds on social media about a strict lockdown being reimposed on Delhi starting from June 18, 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19. This is on the heels of an earlier false claim based on a fake Zee news graphic, that a strict lockdown was being imposed by the government from June 15, 2020 again.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also cleared the air and said there are 'no plans' for another lockdown. The national capital has seen a spike in novel coronavirus cases. At the time of writing this article, there are over 41,000 COVID-19 positive cases and 1,300 deaths in the city.

The viral message states that sources in the Home Ministry have confirmed a lockdown that will be imposed from June 18, and Delhi NCR will be under the President's rule for the next four weeks; thus implying a stringent re-imposition of the lockdown. The message further urges people to complete urgent official work before the region went into a state of complete lockdown. BOOM received the viral message on its helpline for verification as well.

Below is a screenshot of one of the forwards. It reads, "Home ministry sources confirming Delhi NCR complete lockdown from 18th June for 4 weeks. This time it's going to be very strict. No one will be allowed out. President's rule in Delhi. Everyone please do all necessary work which involves movement of paper, file, computer, etc ASAP before Delhi gets lockdown."

The PIB's official Fact Check wing rubbished the claim in a tweet and stated that there is no such plan under consideration. The handle debunked a screenshot of a text which claimed that strict lockdown may be imposed from June 18 and few relaxations were going to be lifted. The text was further credited to News 18 Bangla.