A two-year-old newspaper clipping of a report on an appeal by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to citizens of Mumbai to drink boiled water for the next seven days, is being shared with the false claim that it is a recent notice.
The appeal by the municipal body was made at the time citing a possibility of turbid water. The clipping is being shared as a remedy to Coronavirus among other false claims going viral that drinking hot water protects against the novel coronavirus.
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The caption shared with the newspaper clipping reads, "BMC'S appeal: drink boiled water for next 7 days"
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BOOM received the viral image on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111) informing us that it was viral and is an old clipping.
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FACT-CHECK
On performing a basic Google search, we found that the newspaper clipping was from May 2018, published in the Free Press Journal, and not a recent BMC notice as is being claimed.
The report dated May 6, 2018, states that "There is a possibility of supply of turbid water in the city in the coming days. As a result, the BMC has issued the notice."
In this context, it is clear that it is an old BMC notice and not issued recently during the national lockdown to combat the Coronavirus outbreak.
We also found a 2018 LinkedIn post with the newspaper clipping and an image which is cut out in the viral clipping.
BOOM contacted Vijay Khabale Patil, Chief Public Relations Officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), who said that, "We have previously advised people to boil water as a precautionary measure, but we have recently not put out any such notice."
BOOM reached out to Free Press Journal for a response, the article will be updated once received.
Maharashtra has reported 4203 positive COVID-19 cases and 223 deaths while writing this article. Follow BOOM's LIVE blog for recent updates: Coronavirus LIVE Update: India Reports 17656 Cases, 559 Deaths