As the Coronavirus pandemic has gripped India, with the number of COVID-19 cases rising to 126 on Tuesday, cracking the whip on misinformation being spread about the virus, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has issued a notice to a Mumbai-based doctor who had termed it as a “Chinese fad “which will not survive in the Indian summer.

The MMC has sought explanation from Dr Anil Patil from Dadar in central Mumbai whether he has any study to substantiate his claims.

“The notice has been issued to Dr Anil Patil about whether he has any study or database to substantiate his claims about the virus,” news agency PTI quoted MMC president Dr Shivkumar Uttekar as saying, on Tuesday.

According to Uttekar, Dr Patil had made several claims in his interviews that are prima facie violative of advisories issued by the Central government.

“It is unaccepted on the part of Dr Patil to speak against the advisories of the Central and state governments regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak. We asked him to clarify his views as he had repeatedly dismissed the outbreak and its seriousness,” he said.

Dr Patil had reportedly made claims that the fear over novel Coronavirus is unwarranted and that the virus will not survive in Indian summer and further said that the virus is a “Chinese fad” which is aimed at creating business opportunity for factories that manufacture masks, the MMC chief said.

Dr Patil had also claimed that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which had appeared in China in 2002, had no effect on Indians.

“His video clips have gone viral on social media, which may encourage people to remain careless about personal hygiene. Hence we have issued notice to him,”  Uttekar said.

Maharashtra has reported one COVID-19 death while 38 people have tested positive from the state.

The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus topped 7,000 after Italy announced a new surge in fatalities. A total of 7,007 people have died, with 175,536 infections recorded globally. China has the highest number of fatalities at 3,213, followed by Italy with 2,158 deaths and almost 28,000 cases.

In India, even as the Government put the country in a near-total lockdown with states shutting down schools and colleges and banning gatherings, a 64-year-old COVID-19 patient passed away at Mumbai’s Kasturba hospital today taking total fatalities to three in the country. The other two deaths have been reported from Delhi and Karnataka.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with five more persons testing positive for the novel Coronavirus, the number of infected cases in the has increased to 14 from nine, said a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday.

(With PTI inputs)