New Delhi, Apr 15 (IANS): The Indian Council of Medical research, on Wednesday, refuted a news pertaining to COVID-19 task force.

The apex medical research body on its official Twitter handle said that there was a media report which made false claims about the COVID-19 Task Force that it was not consulted before taking the decision of extending the lockdown.

"There is a media report which makes false claims about the COVID-19 Task Force. The fact is that the task force met 14 times in the last month and all decisions taken involve the members of the task force. Please avoid such conjectures," said the ICMR.

The Press Information Bureau also reiterated the ICMR's statement and elaborated in its tweet that: "A news magazine has claimed that PM @narendramodi did not consult the 21-member scientific #COVID taskforce before extending the lockdown. The PIB said that the reality is, all decisions were taken after consulting the taskforce.

The government has earlier also stated that fighting the fake news is one of the biggest challenges amid novel coronavirus pandemic and has urged the media to cooperate in the fight against the deadly COVID-19.