In order to shut down all the rumours that eating chicken and eggs is a possible cause of Coronavirus, Telangana ministers KT Rama Rao Etela Rajender, Talasani Srinivas Yadav ate chicken on stage.
Coronavirus has not only affected people; it has also given a jolt to the economy and now even poultry sale has been hit with the industry losing 13 billion rupees in three weeks after speculation on social media that chickens are a cause of the spread of coronavirus. These fears have brought down the demand for chicken and nearly halving prices, industry officials said.
Millions have been hit by the slump. Not only poultry, the prices of soybean and corn have also seen a decline of 8 per cent in the last three weeks.
In order to dispel the fears of chicken causing coronavirus; ministers in Telangana were seen biting into chicken pieces at an event organised in Hyderabad.
KT Rama Rao and others dig into chicken
A long line of ministers were seen eating succulent pieces of chicken on stage. The ministers, all in white shirts, were seen holding chicken legs in one hand and paper plates in the other.
On the stage, Telangana minister KT Rama Rao took a quick bite, along with his colleagues. Reports state that the novel coronavirus was first reported from a seafood market in China's Wuhan which led to people believing that it could have mutated from an animal to infect humans. The exact source has not been pinpointed yet.
Chicken rumours
Until now, three people in India are confirmed to be infected by the deadly virus. Coronavirus can be transmitted through chickens rumour is making rounds on the popular chatting app WhatsApp. The western state of Maharashtra has called for the police to act against anyone spreading the rumours.
Uddhav Ahire, chairman of Anand Agro Group, a poultry company based in the western city of Nashik, had stated on a new site that there has been an abrupt drop in the demand for chicken, which has led to chicken prices crashing.
This has left poultry farmers and small time sellers trying to sell poultry at heavily reduced prices as the demand for poultry continues to crash.
