BENGALURU: I received two most absurd messages this week. An image was sent on my family WhatsApp group about how coronavirus is related to Vedic astrology. But as sane citizens and with a science background, you should be able to understand that this is not true. I also received a message from, apparently Sadhguru himself, that spoke about how it’s all just in the brain and that we are all just fearing about it, and that if we do not think about it, we will nt get infected. Which again, is fake, because we all know how the virus is spreading. - Spurthi Eyathirajulu, student
I think the wackiest fake news I heard was a forward that my mother sent me on WhatsApp. It was circulated in the group chat that residents from my apartment share. According to the message, we were urged not to step out of home between 10 pm and 5 am since some medicine would be sprayed in the air in order to “kill Covid-19”. This makes absolutely no sense since the virus isn’t even airborne. I am glad that the group chat’s recipients did question this logic as well. We need to stop fuelling the hysteria and instead, think and act more practically. - Jeanne Rozario, copywriter
I started receiving WhatsApp forwards and phone calls that in Hulimavu, a person has been tested positive for Covid-19. The affected person and five others working with him had to be quarantined. Since the reported case was close to my area, it set off an alarm among residents. But later, we got a confirmation that it was fake news. It’s important to know the source of the news before you start forwarding it.
-Samrat Udyan, IT professional
The most absurd piece of fake news was the WhatsApp message which stated ‘NASA satellite confirms that the sound waves of collective utensil banging has diminished and weakened the Covid virus strain’. This would make sense if NASA stands for ‘Not A Scientific Association’ and if Covid-19 means ‘Can someone offer a ventilator for India’s democracy?’. We should be following protocols and taking safety measures. Messages such as these are only going to mislead people.
– Arnav Rao, stand-up comedian