Several information portals in Kosovo published articles yesterday (April 3) about the Government's proposal to restrict movement and activity measures with the title "12 days of total closure, curfew also announced".
While the title claims that the restriction will be through a total closure for 12 days and a curfew, the content of these articles says something else. So, within the text, the news of a meeting between the Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, with representatives of gastronomes, where a total closure of this segment of the economy was proposed, is described.
Excerpts from these articles:
T: 12 days of total lockdown, curfew also announced
The country is expected to be closed for 12 days from Tuesday.
Starting next week, a total closure of gastronomy and shopping centers for 12 days is expected. In the meeting that Minister Arben Vitia had with the president of the Association of Gastronomes of Kosovo, Petrit Kllokoqi, the curfew was also discussed. "Gastronomy and shopping centers will be closed for 12 days starting next week, while the curfew has also been discussed but no decision has been made yet," said Kllokoqi. In the last 24 hours, the National Institute of Public Health has announced that 12 deaths and 777 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered. The day before yesterday, a record number of new cases of COVID-19 was recorded since the beginning of the pandemic with 975 positive cases.
Links to articles published by several media outlets:
As can be seen from this article, the claim made in the title is untrue, as there is no decision to close, but a proposal. Moreover, the proposal was not for total closure, but only for public spaces, including the gastronomy sector.
Also, there is no official decision from the relevant institutions, in this case from the Ministry of Health itself regarding this topic. Minister Vitia has stated that the decision to increase the restrictive measures will be made after consultations with other relevant stakeholders, which are representatives of the business community and institutional representatives. Today (April 4) he held a meeting with municipal leaders to discuss the modalities of changing the restrictive measures.
News links for Minister Arben Vitia's meeting with municipal representatives:
Analyze:
The claims made that there will be a total lockdown and curfew are unfounded and contradict the very news that the controlled media have published. Based on fact-checking, hibrid.info assesses these claims as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.