A notification seemingly issued by the Health Department of the Government of Punjab of Pakistan, is being circulated on social media platforms with the claim that an immediate ban has been ordered on poultry products due to the presence of COVID-19 virus in it.
‘Due to the detection of corona virus in chicken all poultry forms ban by punjab govt notification issued,’ reads the caption of one such post.
The notification is dated 4 June and the place of issue is Lahore.
The document is addressed to all the Deputy Commissioners of the Government of Punjab and is undersigned by a Deputy Secretary of the Health Department.
The document says that ‘deadly coronavirus’ is found to be present in poultry which warrants an immediate ban on the sale and production of poultry.
One of our community members sent us the notification on Facebook asking us for verification.
Claim:
The health department of Punjab, Pakistan has called for an immediate ban on poultry products because of the presence of ‘deadly Coronavirus’ in them.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
A keyword search on Twitter led to a tweet by the official account of the Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad. He clarified on the microblogging site that the notification was fake.
This notification is fake pic.twitter.com/csvbHHqnze
— Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) June 4, 2020
It is noteworthy to mention that there is no Health Department in Punjab, Pakistan.
The country has a Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) or Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department (SHC&ME).
The Twitter handle of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) also issued a clarification on the notification and called it fake.
چکن (برائلر گوشت) کے حوالے سے یہ لیٹر جعلی ہے۔ محکمہ پرائمری اینڈ سکینڈری ہیلتھ کئیر نے کوئی نوٹیفکیشن جاری نہیں کیا۔#earthquake #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/2lVo062MLd
— Primary & Secondary Healthcare – Punjab (@PSHDept) June 4, 2020
Therefore, the Pakistan administration has not called for an immediate ban on poultry due to Coronavirus.
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