Coronavirus: Fake news and misinformation distracting fight against COVID-19 - Lai Mohammed
- The Nigerian federal government is sharing an update on the fight against coronavirus in the country
- Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, has revealed that the rise in fake news is preventing the fight against COVID-19
- The minister expressed worry about unverified therapies circulating on social media as a cure for coronavirus
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, has credited the rising spate of fake news and misinformation as a distraction in the fight against coronavirus in spite of repeated caution by government.
The minister revealed this on Friday, April 3, while giving an update on the government’s efforts toward containing the pandemic on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja.
Mohammed said that the federal government is mostly worried about unverified local therapies circulating on social media as a cure for the disease when in actual fact, there is no known cure yet.
He said: “If you go by Whatsapp platform, there are so many myths and cure for COVID-19 today. Some people will tell you, it cannot affect Africans or the disease is not even existing at all, while some will say, all you need to do is to take garlic, take ginger. As we speak today, there is no vaccine or medicine for COVID-19.
Source: Facebook
The information minister went on to note that if the people do not change their ways, Nigeria is likely to witness an increase in the number of infections.
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Earlier Legit.ng reported that the minister disclosed that the federal government has not received any money from private donors over coronavirus.
Mohammed made the disclosure on Friday, April 3, in Abuja during the presidential task force briefing on Covid-19. He said the only money the presidential task force on coronavirus received is the one given by the government.
“We have not received even one kobo; people want us probed for how we spent monies we have not even seen,” the information minister said.
In a related development, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 10 new cases of coronavirus infection, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 184.
The NCDC in a tweet on Thursday, April 2, stated that seven of the new cases were detected in Lagos state, while three were confirmed in Abuja.
The agency said out of the 184 cases recorded so far, 20 people who have been treated for the infection and have been discharged while two have died of the virus.
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Source: Legit.ng
