The novel coronavirus brought together thousands of people across India on Sunday evening as they clapped their hands, banged utensils, and even blew on conches.
Chants of "Go Corona Go" à la Ramdas Athawale also echoed across the country. It was suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a way of applauding the dedicated service of essential service personnel such as doctors and other first responders.
As things unfurled however, it became a movement of sorts to ward away the 'evil' virus. There were even people who declaimed loudly via Twitter about how the vibrations created by clapping would kill the virus.
On Monday, a fake Twitter account masquerading as Chinese news agency Xinhua posted a video of a rather enthusiastic woman banging on a bowl as she asks corona to "go".
"#BREAKING: Corona virus finally died today in india due to shock," read the caption.
Now netizens are a trigger happy lot. And many were outraged at what they thought was an insult coming from the official state-run press agency of the People's Republic of China.
The hoax even took in well known public figures including journalists and politicians.
"Indian people, even that despicable variety called Indian Communists, now know that China is the real virus," said IAS officer and writer Sanjay Dixit.
"Thank you Prime Minister. This entertainment during the grim times was much needed," wrote journalist Rana Ayyub.
"Should be called ChinaVirus. CoronaVirus or COVID -19 is a misnomer, added Manish Tewari.
As these tweets continue to remain posted, one would assume that the writers in question have not yet caught on to the fact that it is a fake account, or they are content to let their posts stand.
Take a look at some of the other posts:
India has so far recorded over 400 positive cases. Several parts of the country have gone into varying degrees of lockdown. While railway services have been halted, domestic flights will cease to operate from Wednesday.
