Bhubaneswar: A message and a tweet about a flour mill at Mancheswar in Odisha capital have attained “frequently forwarded” tag on WhatsApp.
One of the viral messages on Thursday urged people not to buy a particular brand of flour.
Following which another message started doing the rounds on social media, clarifying that the particular brand of flour was not manufactured at the mill situated at Mancheswar, where 87 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last seven days, but at Barunei. The employees of the Barunei plant were tested by the company to contain the spread of the virus, it added.
Late evening, another tweet by a news media outlet stated that police had arrested three persons in connection with spreading ‘fake news’ about the flour mill. However, the media outlet later clarified that the viral image carrying its Twitter handle logo was fake.
This picture carrying OTV Twitter handle logo is FAKE. We request our viewers not to believe/forward/share such FAKE news
OTV is in the process of tracking the source of such fake pictures & action will be taken with help of police against such mischief mongers pic.twitter.com/s1NSxuRdUk
— OTV (@otvnews) July 23, 2020
Some media outlets have revealed the name of the flour mill where employees have tested positive for the virus, though the same has not been confirmed by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities.
BMC, however, has confirmed about 87 people of a flour mill at Mancheswar being infected by a suspected super-spreader since July 17.
Meanwhile, a team from BMC also inspected the quarantine facility of the flour mill to ensure that the employees were adhering to guidelines to contain the spread of the virus.
Also Read: 550 Cases In A Week In Bhubaneswar; ‘Super-Spreader’ Infects 87 People In Floor Mill