Fact Check: Fake message about grocery store scaring off Ahmedabad citizens

The city of Ahmedabad has been adversely affected by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. As the continuous increase in the number of COVID-19 patients is ceasing to subside, the people of Ahmedabad are living in constant fear of contracting the China-originated virus.

At a time as crucial as this, it is extremely important that the citizens are up to date with all the developments in the city and are not misinformed in any which way. Currently, a WhatsApp forward is being circulated among the people of Ahmedabad carrying sensitive information that could cause disarray in the public.

The message claims that the wife of the owner of a grocery store located in the Maninagar area has tested positive for COVID-19. People are being warned against visiting and buying essential items from Shubham Store in order to avoid catching the contagion. Maninagar is one of the prominent areas of Ahmedabad and is located in the southern part of the city.

Here is a screenshot of the message:

Fact-checking the claim

When any information of this sort is spread among the general public, it is very much likely to create a panic like situation, which is probably the last thing a city facing a health emergency would want. Therefore, it becomes necessary to scrutinize such randoms news doing the rounds on social media.

Upon resorting to verify the WhatsApp forward regarding Shubham Store, we at International Business Times, India, concluded that it is just another random message without a credible source. Furthermore, we also found out that a complaint has been registered with Cyber Dost in regards to the circulation of the fake news.

All the workers in Shubham Store are adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines notified by the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and people can come in and buy groceries without any hesitation.

Out of the 11,380 positive cases of the novel coronavirus in Gujarat, more than 8,000 are from Ahmedabad alone. More than 500 patients have lost the battle against COVID-19 in the city. The state health department has not been successful in curbing the spread of the fatal disease, so far.