Doctors Warned: Don’t Give Incomplete, Inaccurate Information On COVID-19

Bengaluru: Doctors in Karnataka were issued a strong warning on Tuesday — don’t give inaccurate information while speaking to the media.

Some medical practitioners have allegedly been found to be giving contradictory statements on the COVID-19 situation in the state.

The Karnataka government urged doctors to exercise utmost care and caution while communicating to the public via various media platforms information on 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 Commissionerate of Health and Family Services stated in a circular on Tuesday.

Advising medical professionals to check government guidelines, circulars and orders thoroughly before appearing on any media or social platform, the government stated that action would be taken if any misinformation was spread through them.

“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 added in its circular.

Karnataka reported 27,156 new COVID-19 infections and 14 deaths on Monday, with the test positivity rate being 12.45%.