In another instance of misplaced panic, a farmer in Karnataka ended up burying a truckload of chickens in his farm over coronavirus fears.
The farmer also shot a video of the horrid burial which has gone viral and video is being passed off as a measure to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
The farmer, Najeer Ahmed Makandar, loaded around 6,000 chickens, all about a month old in a truck and dumped the live birds in a large pit in Nulsoor, Belagavi's Gokak taluk, a few days ago.
Speaking to TOI, Najeer said, "I was left with no option. I have spent nearly six lakh to rear these chickens."
He added that before the coronavirus scare, a chicken was being sold at Rs 50 to 70 and after the panic, the prices have fallen down to between Rs 5 to Rs 10.
Najeer said that he was not able to afford the cost of maintenance after the drop in prices.
Even though the health officials have repeatedly said that the coronavirus is spread through the respiratory and spread from person to person, fake messages seem to be making more of an impact on people, one of them being the misplaced fear of non-vegetarian food.
In another incident in Bangarpet taluk, around 9,500 chicks were buried alive. In this case also, the farm owner Satish cited losses to the tune of Rs 20,000 to justify his actions.