Villagers in parts of India think Covid-19 is a hoax!

What if we told you many in India have been found to be disbelieving that there is a raging pandemic in the country. More than a year after Covid-19 started upsetting the economy and urban societies, parts of rural India are still not sure that there is a pandemic. As per some social media users and commentators, for a section of villagers, coronavirus is a myth! 

A commentator has found, much to his shock, that the virus is non-existent and therefore it doesn’t need to be curbed through the use of face masks. “A large number of people in small towns and villages of UP are still in denial. Believe Corona is a hoax or just a city phenomenon, not taking masks seriously & refusing to get vaccinated,” wrote Abhinav Prakash, a columnist.

There is social media-driven rumour-mongering, of which there is no dearth on social media. Abhishek Tripathy wrote, “In Odisha, there is a rumour going around that Pharma companies have released this virus to rake in profits. Alarming level of misinformation in the face of cheap data and widespread social media usage today.” 

It’s observed even in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that too many villagers are hesitant to take vaccines for this reason. 

A lot of media chatter doesn’t capture this ground reality. When there is vaccine hesitancy, the Centre is blamed. When there are cases increasing in parts of India, everyone simply blames the Prime Minister. The role of local and state governments is never emphasized.