As India and other South Asian nations brace for the spread of the coronavirus, they face another battle: misinformation. Social media are rife with bogus remedies, tales of magic cures and hazardous medical advice.
In this Tuesday, March 24, 2020 photo, an Indian girl wearing a face mask as a precaution from coronavirus watches a video on the WhatsApp app in New Delhi, India. With the pandemic starting to gain a foothold in the region, social media are rife with bogus remedies, tales of magic cures and potentially hazardous medical advice. Experts are urging caution and say the “coronavirus infodemic” could have disastrous consequences.
With the pandemic starting to gain a foothold in the region, social media sites are rife with bogus remedies, tales of magic cures and potentially hazardous medical advice. Experts are urging caution and warning that the “coronavirus infodemic” could have disastrous consequences. Poultry sales in India plunged following false claims that chickens were linked to the pandemic. Racial attacks against people from the country’s northeastern states increased after rumors spread that they carried the virus.
One preacher claimed to have interviewed — in his dream — a man in Italy to obtain a cure for the virus. On the outskirts of Islamabad the army was called in to shut down a mosque after its prayer leader despite exhibiting symptoms kept his mosque open. There are concerns that if cases were to surge in South Asia, it would overwhelm already strained health systems.
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