K’taka govt warns medical professionals of action for spreading misinformation on Covid

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has warned certain medical practitioners of action for allegedly spreading misinformation pertaining to the COVID-19.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Commissionerate of Health and Family Services said some medical practitioners were allegedly giving incomplete, inaccurate, and unsubstantiated information about COVID-19.

”Such misinformation leads to confusion in public at large on the prevailing COVID scenario in the State and encourages them to deviate from well laid out guidelines issued by the health and revenue authorities,” the statement said.

Asking the medical professionals to exercise utmost care and caution while communicating with the public on COVID-19, the Commissionerate asked them to refer to the government guidelines, circulars, and orders thoroughly before appearing on any media or social platform.

”Any misinformation or non-factual data on COVID-19 shared on such platforms would be deemed as an offense and necessary action would be initiated as per section 54 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 and section 4(K) of Karnataka Epidemic Disease Act, 2020,” the commissionerate warned in its statement.

According to health officials, a few doctors recently appeared in some news channels and allegedly gave statements contrary to the facts and had the potential to trigger panic among people about COVID-19.

The warning came at a time when the State witnessed fresh 34,047 cases and 13 deaths on Sunday and 27,156 infections and 14 fatalities on Monday.