Bengaluru: The state government has warned certain medical practitioners and doctors for allegedly spreading misinformation through media pertaining to the COVID-19 and Omicron variant.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Commissionerate of Health and Family Services warned medical practitioners and doctors from spreading false and inaccurate information through media.

The state government has further warned that spreading of misinformation and non-factual data on Covid would be deemed as an offence and necessary action would be initiated as per section 54 of Disaster Management act, 2005 and section 4(k) of Karnataka Epidemic Act, 2020.

In the notice Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare stated that “ it has come to the notice of the government, that few medical practitioners while communicating the public on various media platforms are giving incomplete, inaccurate and unsubstantiated information about Covid 19. Such misinformation leads to confusion in public at large on the prevailing scenario in the state and encourages them to deviate from well laid out guidelines issued by the health and revenue authorities”, stated in the order.

Further state governments stated that “ medical practitioners, being proficient in both clinical and public health fields, should exercise utmost care and caution while communicating with the public on Covid 19. It is expected that Medical Practitioners shall refer to the guidelines, circulars and orders issued by the state and Centre thoroughly before appearing on any media/ social media platform.

“Any misinformation or non-factual data on COVID-19 shared on such platforms would be deemed as an offence and necessary action would be initiated as per section 54 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 and section 4(K) of Karnataka Epidemic Disease Act, 2020," the Commissionerate warned in its statement.