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WHO launches campaign against China virus misinformation
GENEVA, Feb 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The World Health Organization said Monday
it was working around the clock with internet and social media giants to
combat widespread misinformation surrounding the deadly novel coronavirus
outbreak.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of the dangers posed by “the
spread of rumours and misinformation”as China saw a surge in deaths and
infections from the highly contagious virus.
“We have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information
about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results,”
Tedros said in opening remarks to the UN health agency’s Executive Board
meeting in Geneva.
“Social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and Tiktok
have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation,” he said.
His comments were interrupted by a fit of coughing, but the WHO chief
assured the assembly that there was no need to worry: “It is not corona.”
He spoke as the death toll in China surged above 360, surpassing the number
of fatalities in the country from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) outbreak of 2002-03.
The number of infections in China also jumped signficantly on Monday,
passing 17,200.
The 57 confirmed new deaths on Monday was the single-biggest increase since
the virus was detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan, where it
is believed to have jumped from animals at a market into humans.
The virus has since spread to more than 24 countries, despite many
governments imposing unprecedented travel bans on people coming from China.
The first foreign death from the virus was reported in the Philippines on
Sunday.
– ‘Infodemic’ –
WHO warned late Sunday that the 2019-nCoV outbreak “has been accompanied by
a massive ‘infodemic’,” which it defined as “an over-abundance of information
— some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find
trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.”
The agency said it had risk communication and social media teams “working
24 hours a day to identify the most prevalent rumours that can potentially
harm the public’s health, such as false prevention measures and cures”.
The WHO last week declared the crisis a so-called Public Health Emergency
of International Concern (PHEIC), with Tedros reiterating Monday that the
rare declaration was not taken due to lack of confidence in China’s handling
of the situation.
It was “taken primarily because of the signs of human-to-human transmission
outside China, and our concern of what might happen if the virus were to
spread in a country with a weaker health system,” he said.
WHO has also advised against “measures that unnecessarily interfere with
international travel and trade”, at a time when a wide range of countries are
advising against travel to China and even closing their borders to people
travelling from the country.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1702 hrs