Public TV falsely claims Muslim youths in Karnataka refuse coronavirus testing for “religious reasons”

'In the backdrop of global COVID-19 outbreak, Kannada channel Public TV aired a show on March 14 where it was claimed that four Muslim youths in Sultan Street, Bhatkal in Karnataka refused coronavirus testing for “religious reasons” after returning from Dubai... Right-wing website OpIndia picked up the news the next day and tweeted, “Islam does not approve: Four Muslims who returned from Dubai threaten health officials in Karnataka, refuse to undergo Coronavirus test.”... The claim was shared sans any source by Mahesh Hegde, founder of fake news blog Postcard News. Kanchan Gupta quote-tweeted a tweet which shared the Public TV broadcast and termed the alleged action of the youths “minorytism”... Alt News contacted multiple authorities and found this information to be false. The dubious news was promoted by OpIndia and My Nation the next day despite the police addressing the rumours on March 14 itself. This was not the first time that Public TV, OpIndia and My Nation propagated misinformation.'