Fact Check: No, 169 coronavirus cases weren't detected at Mumbai's Omkar Alta Monte society

The residents of Mumbai's Omkar Alta Monte society were in for a rude shock after a message started doing the rounds on social media claiming that as many as 169 fresh cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the residential complex.

Along with the message, an image was also being circulated on various online platforms showing several health workers at the main entrance of the upscale society located in Malad east.

Mumbai is among the worst-hit cities in the country and is only behind Delhi in terms of the total number of the novel coronavirus cases.

BMC rubbishes the news as fake

As soon as the rumor gained momentum, an alert resident of Omkar Alta Monte, Sohini Mitra, took to Twitter to inform that no new COVID-19 cases were found in her society. Acting as a responsible citizen, she also brought the matter to the notice of several authorities.

"Someone from ranibelo has clicked the pic and are sharing fake news of 169 cases of covid at Omkar. Would request the officials to please stop this fake news," tweeted Sohini, tagging Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Cyber in her post.

She also shared a video of Municipal Councillor Vinod Mishra who clarified that the society only has 10 positive cases to date, out of which 6 have even recovered. He further stated that the image that was being shared along with the message was clicked when the health workers had come to conduct screening of the residents.

Following Sohini's tweet, the BMC too issued a statement refuting the reports of fresh COVID-19 cases in Omkar Alta Monte.

"This image from Omkar Alta Monte, Malad (E) making rounds on social media claims that 169 residents have tested positive for COVID19. We would like to inform that the said news is false. The image is of a screening camp organised at the premises. We urge citizens to not panic," the BMC said.

The city of Mumbai is already battling hard with the COVID-19 pandemic and such sort of false news could create further problems for both the residents as well as the authorities.