Haryana
Fact Check: Viral Posts Mislead People, Claims, 45 Students Of DPS Gurugram Tested Positive For COVID-19
|The Logical Indian Fact check team investigates the claim that45 students of Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Gurugram have tested positive for COVID-19.
A message is being circulated on social networking sites and WhatsApp which says that 45 students of Delhi public school (DPS), sector 45 have tested positive for COVID-19. "45 students of DPS Gurugram sec 45 have tested positive along with their families as well very disturbing news! It's not about the school but many children studying in DPS Gurgaon who have caught infection due to them venturing out with their families when the lockdown was lifted," reads the caption of one such post.
The message comes with a video of the principal of the school, Aditi Misra.
Below is the video that has been doing the rounds:
The message had gone viral and had led to widespread panic amongst the parents of the students of that school.
45 students of DPS gurugram sec 45 have tested positive along with their families as well
— Keshav Pawar (@KeshavP61609577) June 9, 2020
Very disturbing news!
It's not about the school but many children studying in DPS Gurgaon who have caught infection due to them venturing out with their families when lockdown was lifted pic.twitter.com/U1vGirRAdT
@leenadhankhar As a member of PTA DPS Sec 45, I request you to plz give the details of these 45 children infected in the said school. It is of paramount importance for us, as you can very well imagine. And what is the source of this information? There's a sense of fear in parents pic.twitter.com/g20X19ZKfi
— Dr.VinitaMalik (@DrVinitaMalik) June 9, 2020
Received on WA... is this true...
— Pandit Satish Sharma (@satish93572512) June 9, 2020
"45 students of DPS Gurugram Sec 45 have tested positive along with their families as well
Mrs Aditi Misra, Principal has herself released this video" pic.twitter.com/C6hYDtnfD745 students of DPS Gurugram & their families have tested +ve. Students caught infection as they ventured out with their families when lockdown was lifted.
— Harinder S Sikka (@sikka_harinder) June 10, 2020
Mrs Aditi Misra, Principal has herself released video.
Pls share clip & help create awareness.
Stay Home, Stay Safe🙏 pic.twitter.com/IJX99vtQnq
Claim:
45 students of Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Gurugram have tested positive for COVID-19.
Fact Check:
The claim is misleading.
The viral video was part of a weekly message the principal of the school sends to the parents of DPS Sector 45.
"…I hope you are well, you are safe. Some disturbing news, some of our children have been tested positive, the entire family actually so we really do not know where the infection has come from. I think this is the time to really really keep yourself safe as things are opening up, there are chances of increase in numbers so please don't let down your guard….," Misra said in the video.
Nowhere in the video does she mention that 45 students have tested positive.
It could be the name by which the school is referred to owing to its location that led to the misleading information.
This particular DPS school, led by Aditi Misra is located in Sector 45, Gurugram, Haryana.
The number '45' could have arisen from the fact that the school is situated in sector 45.
Further, Misra wrote a letter to Gurugram deputy commissioner Amit Khatri on June 10. She demanded an inquiry into the matter. Misra also named two persons who had tweeted the wrong information along with the video.
Below is the screenshot of the letter:
Update: The letter by DPS school to DC Gurugram seeking inquiry and action into "malicious campaign" on the social media against the school.
— Forward Post (@fpost360) June 10, 2020
A message that went viral said 45 DPS students tested positive. School has denied it.#FakeNews #DPSstudents https://t.co/kTEe3PuebE pic.twitter.com/oh7LmnAtmT
"People write stuff without verifying. Anything to grab attention," Misra wrote in response to one such tweet.
Yes. School is closed. People write stuff without verifying. Anything to grab attention 🙄
— Aditi Misra (@Adimisra) June 8, 2020
Therefore, while the principal stated that some students from her school have tested positive, nowhere is it confirmed that 45 children have been infected by the contagious virus.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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