<![CDATA[Amid coronavirus pandemic, India faces another danger]>
As India restricts most visitors for a month to stem the outbreak of the new coronavirus within its borders, it faces another battle that can be difficult to contain: the spread of fake news and xenophobia on social media.
So far, these have ranged from bogus remedies and Covid-19 cures to racially tinged attacks directed at people because of their appearance, including those from Indian states that share a border with China, where the virus emerged in November.
Last week, Hmingtei Chhangte, a young IT professional based in Pune, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, posted a video of an incident from a grocery store. In the video, a woman can be seen arguing with Chhangte and accusing her of spreading the coronavirus by not covering her face.
A disinfection team in Srinagar, India. Photo: EPA alt=A disinfection team in Srinagar, India. Photo: EPA
Shaken by the incident, she wrote on Instagram: "The woman was making comments directed towards us suggesting we are Chinese. And when I confronted her she started to scream at us. This can happen to anyone from the Northeast".
Zosang Pachau, a 24-year-old student at the University of Delhi, said he was harassed while on the way to college.
"I was just getting on the metro when a group of young men started pointing at me and saying 'Corona virus aagaye' [coronavirus has come here]," he said.
Pachau, who comes from Mizoram state in north-eastern India, but has lived in Delhi for the last five years, resisted confronting the group to avoid escalating the situation.
"Lynchings have become so common here in India that you wouldn't dare confront people in public. We are living in very scary times," he added.
India is one the biggest markets for WhatsApp with over 400 million users. In the past, it has been a vehicle for the spread of fake news about child abductors and the slaughter of cows: things that have resulted in mob lynching incidents in the country.
The Indian government has taken some action. Last week, at least 11 people were reportedly arrested by police for spreading false information in Mizoram state.
The magnitude of the problem is such that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a public appeal about the dangers of rumours and misinformation.
"In such times rumours circulate very rapidly. Some say: 'don't eat this, don't do that'. Some people will bring in new things such as: 'eat this to keep coronavirus away'. It is my request to all my fellow countrymen, kindly keep away from these kinds of rumours," the prime minister said.
But even politicians have spread fake news. Last month, Shweta Shalini, a politician from his Bharatiya Janata Party tweeted an article that claimed China was seeking court approval to kill 20,000 Covid-19 patients.
After tweet was called out as fake, Shalini deleted her post.
Pankaj Jain, head of fact-checking website SM Hoaxslayer told This Week in Asia that the amount of misinformation being spread on social media was almost impossible to counter.
"We have never encountered so much misinformation before regarding a health issue. Every day, I'm getting dozens of messages from people asking me to verify information regarding the virus they have received. Obviously most of it is just false," he said.
Jain said people were forwarding messages without checking, resulting in hoaxes going viral and causing panic.
"It's mostly our elders and people in rural areas who fall prey to such messages," he added.
In the wake of so much misinformation about Covid-19 " the disease caused by the new coronavirus " the government has made some effort to combat it.
Telecom operators have been ordered to fight the spread of misinformation, and India's health ministry has published a comic book to educate children with the facts.
India with its 1.3 billion population and proximity to China has so far come through the global virus crisis, that has killed more than 5,800 people, relatively unscathed.
According to official figures, India has reported only 100 infections and two deaths. The real number could be much higher given the virus' ability to spread undetected from people with mild or no symptoms.
Containment efforts have so far mostly been focused on preventing community transmission. The government has released self-quarantine guidelines that includes isolating in a well ventilated room and avoiding contact with other family members and outsiders.
Indian doctors screen patients in New Delhi. Photo: EPA alt=Indian doctors screen patients in New Delhi. Photo: EPA
Last Wednesday, India announced it would not allow in most travellers unless they had special exemptions, and said even those allowed entry would have to be subjected to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
The following day, India reported its first coronavirus death as authorities ordered schools, theatres and cinemas closed in New Delhi for the rest of the month in a bid to keep the pandemic at bay.
The government has also ordered quarantine facilities set up in different parts of the country.
At a facility run by the army in Haryana some 60km from Delhi, over 400 people were being kept in observation. Other quarantine facilities are being set up in Jaisalmer, Kolkata, Chennai and Gorakhpur, media reported.
A spokesperson from the Delhi government said authorities in the capital were taking every possible step to contain the spread of Covid-19.
"We are prepared for all possibilities in case of an outbreak. But for now, we are hoping preventive measures would prove to be enough."
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
