Health Min dismisses Bachchan’s claim of virus spreading through flies

PTI, Mar 27, 2020, 7:35 AM IST

Mumbai: Mega star Amitabh Bachchan has shared a video in which he cites Chinese experts to claim that coronavirus spreads through flies but the Health Ministry says the virus does not transmit through flies.

In his tweet numbered 3481, Bachchan wrote, “A study in @TheLancet shows that coronavirus lingers on human excreta much longer than in respiratory samples. Come India, we are going to fight this! Use your toilet.”

In a video along with the tweet, the 77-year-old actor said, “Today, I want to discuss something really important with you. Our country is fighting coronavirus and you have to play an important role in this fight. Do you know that in a recent study, experts in China have found that coronavirus can survive in human excreta for many weeks.

“Even if somebody recovers from the disease, the virus can survive in his excreta. If a fly sits on that excreta and then sits on vegetables and fruits or etable, this disease can spread further,” Bachchan said imploring his 40.7 million followers to be the part of a public movement to fight against the disease and open defecation.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretory Ministry of Health, however, dismissed the notion, saying, “I have not seen the tweet but this is an infectious disease and does not spread through flies.”

It is the second time that Bachchan, who has been raising awareness about the virus, has attracted criticism for sharing information that many on social media say is unverified and creates confusion and unnecessary fear.

Earlier, during the Janata curfew announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on last Sunday, Bachchan had tweeted an opinion that vibrations from clapping, blowing conch shells would reduce or destroy coronavirus potency as it was ‘amavasya’, the darkest day of the month, leading to a lot of criticism from social media users.