Fact Check: GHMC warning public against consumption of cool drinks is fake
An image with text in Telugu looking like a statement from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad, Telangana is in wide circulation claiming that the corporation issued an advisory to the public to avoid consuming cool drinks/ soft drinks as they have been contaminated.
cool drinks contaminated
An image with text in Telugu looking like a statement from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad, Telangana is in wide circulation claiming that the corporation issued an advisory to the public to avoid consuming cool drinks/ soft drinks as they have been contaminated. The company workers mixed blood containing the dangerous Ebola virus in these beverages. NDTV has reported this incident.
The claim in Telugu goes “గ్రేటర్ హైదరాబాద్ మునిసిపల్ కార్పొరేషన్, టౌన్ ప్లానింగ్ విభాగం. మిత్రులందరికీ హైదరాబాద్ పోలీసులు భారతదేశం అంతటా సమాచారం అందించారు. దయచేసి ఒక్కటి కూడా తాగకండి Maaza, Fanta, 7 Up, Coca Cola, Mountain Deo, Pepsi, etc వంటి శీతల పానీయాలు రాబోయే కొద్ది రోజులు ఎందుకంటే ఈ కంపెనీ కార్మికులు కలుషితాన్ని కలిపారు అందులో ఎబోలా అనే ప్రమాదకరమైన వైరస్ రక్తం. వార్త ఒకటి నిన్న NDTV ఛానెల్లో చెప్పబడింది. దయచేసి వీలైనంత త్వరగా ఈ సందేశాన్ని ఫార్వార్డ్ చేయడం ద్వారా సహాయం చేయండి. ఈ సందేశాన్ని మీ కుటుంబ సభ్యులకు ఫార్వార్డ్ చేయండి. దీన్ని వీలైనంత షేర్ చేయండి”
When translated, it claims: “Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Town Planning Department. Hyderabad police has passed on information to all friends across the nation. Please do not drink any soft drinks such as Maaza, Fanta, 7 Up, Coca-Cola, Mountain Deo, Pepsi, etc for the next few days because the workers of this company have contaminated it with the blood containing the dangerous Ebola virus. News regarding the same was reported on the NDTV channel yesterday. Please help by forwarding this message as soon as possible. Forward this message to your family members. Share it as much as possible”
This message is also viral on WhatsApp.
Fact Check:
When searched, we could not find any reports on incidents of contamination on NDTV or other news websites.
But when we searched with the keywords “cool drinks contaminated with ebola’, we found that this message has been circulating on social media since 2019.
We also found the clarification shared by the Hyderabad City police on their social media handles that ‘Fake news spreading on social media about cool drinks and a warning from Hyderabad city police is fake one and Hyderabad city police never released any message regarding this.”
According to the report by thenewsminute.com published in July 2019, the Hyderabad police refuted sharing such advisories and also alerted the public on spreading such rumours which can cause panic and alarm in the general public.
This message was also debunked by PIB Fact Check.
The PIB stated that “A message is doing the rounds on social media claiming that the Government of India has advised citizens to avoid cold drinks for a few days as they are contaminated with the Ebola virus. #PIBFactCheck: This message is #fake @MoHFW_INDIA has issued no such advisory!”
Therefore, the image resembling an advisory issued by GHMC is a hoax. GHMC did not issue any advisory about the contamination of cool drinks with blood containing Ebola virus. No such incident occurred in India. The claim is False.