If there's one issue that has really concerned everyone around the world, its the deadly epidemic of Coronavirus. The COVID19 outbreak which started in China has claimed close to 1,400 lives in the country alone. The number of infected is more than 63,000 and the epidemic continues to spread across nations. News of deaths are also reported from other countries and the situation continues to be grave. Adding more tension to this are the fake news reports emerging online. Coronavirus outbreak has become a target of fake news, unreliable pics and videos going viral. From reports of China planning to kill all the infected patients to possible cures of the disease, we try to list down all the fake news that are being spread on the internet and know the truth behind them. Coronavirus Outbreak: Conspiracy Theories Floating on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp About Deadly Virus Spread.
Chinese Police Killing Infected People
The very recent case of fake news is a video being widely shared online stating that Chinese police is going out to kill all the infected people. The video, however, is doctored footage from three separate incidents clubbed together. There is no truth to the case.
Check The Fake Viral Video Here:
Over 25,000 killed
They have started shooting down all the people with the virus in China.
( video shared by a reliable source in China, through a friend ) pic.twitter.com/2qWRvNRPjU
— Indur Chhugani (@IndurChhugani) February 11, 2020
China Seeking Court Approval to Kill 20,000 Infected Patients
The above piece of news comes in connection to a false report claiming that the Chinese government approaching its apex court to kill 20,000 coronavirus-infected patients as they put others' lives to danger. But this report was made by a non-credible web portal which has posted fake news in the past. Since fear and panic gripping the world with the death toll rising in China, many believed the website's claims.
India's Ministry of Health's Emergency Notification on Coronavirus
As WhatsApp continues to be a source of giving and receiving news, a message forward was going viral. It described coronavirus as "very very serious and fatal". There's no cure once you are infected. It's spreading from China to various countries (sic)," read the viral WhatsApp post. It also asked people to not let their throat dry to avoid the infection. The Press Information Bureau busted that the advisory was fake and there was no truth to it.
Check PIB's Tweet Dismissing the Emergency Notification:
Fake emergency notification from @MoHFW_INDIA is doing rounds on social media
No such notification has been issued !!!
For prevention against #Coronavirus and travel advisory, pls see:https://t.co/ybsKk8c5tChttps://t.co/qnK1JCVhmI
For Queries on #nCoV : Call +91-11-23978046 pic.twitter.com/UuRhm1ZiA8
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 29, 2020
Arsenicum Album 30’ Homeopathic Medicine Cures Coronavirus
Among the news of rising death toll increasing day by day in China, there is a lot of news regarding the cure and treatment of the deadly disease. Among them, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) of India tweeted and released two advisories. They claimed a Homeopathic medicine "Arsenicum album 30" can help prevent or treat the Coronavirus infection. It received a lot of flak from people online, post which the AYUSH Ministry said that it didn't claim so.
Weed Cures Coronavirus
A meme making platform made a joke in a bad humour that cannabis can kill coronavirus. However, not everyone was aware that it was a meme and it got shared on social media. Bollywood filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri was among them who shared the meme as a piece of valid news. But it was a meme and there is no relation of cannabis to any cure of the deadly disease.
These are some of the fake reports that are being churned online regarding the deadly epidemic. The World Health Organisation had also issued myth-buster about the disease given so many fake news and reports were constantly being shared online. We advise all readers to authenticate the source of any WhatsApp forward including a picture or a video which claims information related to the cure of Coronavirus.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2020 12:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).