Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 day nationwide lockdown on the 24th March 2020 to control the Coronavirus situation. Social distancing is one of the major precautions to be followed amidst this pandemic so that there is no community spread. In order to follow social distancing all the movie theatres, restaurants, hotels, malls etc have been closed. Amidst this situation a viral notification on social media allegedly issued by the Ministry of Tourism claims that all hotels, restaurants, pubs etc will be closed till 15th Oct 2020. The notification further states that specifically north Indian restaurants should be closed till the given date else legal action will be taken against the owner of the restaurant.
The post reads as “All hotels, restaurants, pubs etc will be closed till 15th Oct 2020 as per tourism minister of India.”
Facebook Post | Archive Link
Fact Check-
We started our investigation by running a simple keyword search on Google to find any relevant media reports claiming the same, but we were unable to find any credible media reports. Next we visited the website of the Ministry of Tourism to find out viral Notification, but we were unable to find any press release, order or notification claiming that all hotels, restaurants, pubs etc will be closed till 15th Oct 2020.
Next, we came across a clarification published by PIB Fact Check on 8th April 2020. PIB tweeted that “Be cautious of #Fake order claiming that hotels/restaurants will remain closed till 15th October 2020 due to #Coronavirusoutbreak. The order is Fake and has NOT been issued by Ministry of Tourism. Do not believe in rumours!”
Conclusion- Fact Crescendo found the above mentioned post to be False. The Ministry of Tourism has not issued any such order which states that all restaurants in India will be closed till 15th October 2020 in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Title:The Ministry of Tourism has NOT issued any order of closing down restaurants till October
Fact Check By: Aavya RayResult: False
