Karnataka govt issues note asking ‘experts’ to speak sensibly

The state government issued a note on Tuesday asking medical practitioners to speak “responsibly” about the current third wave of infections when appearing on media platforms or social media.

The generally tepid current wave of infections in the state which has broken the pattern of serious illness set by the previous two outbreaks is said to have created an “epidemic” of contradictory and misleading “expert” opinions being aired about Covid-19.

The note, which was issued by the Commissionerate of the Health and Family Welfare Services, states: “It has come to the notice of the government that a few medical professionals while communicating to the public on various media platforms are giving an incomplete, inaccurate and unsubstantiated information about Covid-19. Such misinformation leads to confusion in the 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.”

Sources said the note appears to have been crystallised by the “viral interview” of a private doctor on a Kannada TV channel over the weekend who categorised the current crop of infections as not constituting a Covid-19 wave but an incidence of annual flu.

Also read: In a massive jump, Karnataka reports 41,457 new Covid-19 cases; 25,595 from Bengaluru alone

Health Commissioner D Randeep said there has been a multitude of questionable information emerging on media platforms, which diverges from established scientific thought on the current wave of infections - from both the ICMR and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Some medical practitioners are saying in public that Covid-19 should only be regarded as a flu, which contradicts the WHO which states that this new variant of the virus should not be taken lightly. There are also statements which question the value of curfew and drugs. Some ‘experts’ say that a person should test themselves if they have symptoms and conversely ‘others’ say treat all symptoms as Omicron,” Randeep said.

A second health official described the note as a bid to preempt the worsening of misinformation. “This is not an attempt to muzzle free speech,” the official said.

Randeep added that “medical practitioners have a responsibility for giving accurate information to the public. We are not asking people to tow the government line. People can talk but they should speak responsibly.”

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