Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Viral clip claims that the schools will be shut down until Maga 15 (January 28) in view of growing infections.
Fact
The viral news clip is from January 2022 when the CCMC decided to shut down schools to prevent the spread of corona virus.
At a time when the surge in cases of the flu-like Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China has raised fears in neighbouring Nepal, a video claiming that schools will remain shut until January 28 to contain the spread of infections is going viral on TikTok.
Amid growing concerns regarding the spread of HMPV virus in China, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on January 9 has assured that the country has the capacity to monitor and manage Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Nepal.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @boxervai619 posted a news bulletin clip in which the anchor says, “Amid growing reports of infections, CCMC [Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre] has decided to shut down schools from tomorrow until January 28. People visiting parks, shopping malls, and cinema halls must carry their vaccine cards from Magh 3 (January 16). The aviation authority has been urged to make flight schedules so as to stave off overcrowding.” Text superimposed on the video reads, “Schools across the country will be closed until January 28.”
The 15-second video posted on January 11 has garnered 34.3k likes, 45 users have commented on it, and 4037 users have shared it.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity, Newschecker first checked the status of HMPV in Nepal and found an article, dated January 13, published on Kathmandu Post online. The article noted that the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has decided to test specimens collected from the patients suffering from respiratory illnesses to determine the spread of human metapneumovirus in Nepal. However, Nepal has not confirmed the detection of HMPV despite the rise in cases of respiratory illnesses.
We then closely listened to the audio and ran searches on Google by taking clues from the key phrases used in the narration. The search led us to a news article published on Nepal Times online. We found that the news resembled the wordings used in the viral clip. However, we couldn’t find the exact date of the article. The search result threw up another article, dated January 9, 2022, published on Onlinekhabar.com. The article lends credence to the fact that the Education Ministry had decided to implement the CCMC recommendation to shut down schools until Nepali month of Magh 15 (Jan 29, 2022).
We searched the YouTube channel of Nepal Times online television by using the clues from the Nepal Times online article and found a video, dated January 9, 2022, published on the YouTube channel.
On checking the video, we found that the video was a detailed report of the bulletin regarding the CCMC’s decision to shut down schools to contain the spread of corona virus back in January 2022.
Further, we found another video, dated January 9, 2022, posted on the YouTube channel of Nepal Times, whose frame from 0.14-minute to 0.29-minute exactly matched the viral video.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that the viral clip is from January 9, 2022, when the government decided to shut down schools in order to contain the spread of corona virus.
Conclusion
No, the government has not decided to shut down schools until (Magh 15) January 28 to contain the spread of any kind of infections. The viral clip is from January 2022 when Nepal decided to shut down schools as part of its policy to cope with the spread of coronavirus.
Result: False
Sources
Kathmandu Post, Jan 8, 2025
Himalayan Times, Jan 9, 2025
Nepal Times, Jan 9, 2022
Onlinekhabar, Jan 10, 2022
Nepaltimes/YouTube , Jan 9, 2025
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
