Coronavirus: What misinformation has spread in Africa?
Coronavirus: What misinformation has spread in Africa?
(10 days later)
African countries are experiencing a rise in the number of new coronavirus cases, and many governments are now enforcing strict social distancing measures.
African countries are experiencing a rise in the number of new coronavirus cases, and many governments are now enforcing strict social distancing measures.
As they prepare for a surge in cases, misleading information has been spreading throughout the continent.
As they prepare for a surge in cases, misleading information has been spreading throughout the continent.
1. Misleading video about virus testing in South Africa
1.This video does not show Africans under attack in China
In South Africa, a video claiming testing kits were contaminated was widely shared on social media.
Videos have been trending online claiming to show Africans being attacked in the street in China. This comes as African communities in China have reported being accused of spreading the virus.
In the video, a man calls on South Africans to refuse swab tests, which check if someone currently has the virus.
A Kenyan blogger on Twitter, and others on YouTube and Facebook, shared one with the caption:"Kenyan couple exchange blows with a Chinese couple in the streets of Wuhan.... it's survival for the fittest."
The clip begins with the man having a swab stuck up his nose. "Do not under any circumstances allow them to test you. There's a possibility that the swabs are contaminated with Covid-19," he says.
Clips from the video were also used by a leading TV station in Kenya.
He alleges that people globally are saying the swabs are being used to spread the virus, and refers to reports in the UK that test kits there were contaminated.
The only problem is that the video is taken in New York, not China.
But this is misleading - the tests were giving false positive readings, it wasn't that the swabs were contaminated with the actual virus.
On Twitter, the post tags nearby places in New York in a caption to the video, including St Barnabas Hospital and Fordham Road. And on Instagram, it tags Oriental House - a Chinese restaurant in New York - as the location.
The Eastern Cape Department of Health says the man's allegations are unfounded.
By using Google Street View, you can locate a cash-point and the hospital, both of which are visible in the video of the street brawl.
"We would like to put it on record that the testing kits are not contaminated and emphasise that we would never put people's lives at risk by using contaminated testing kits on them," spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo told the media.
2. Consuming alcohol does not protect against Covid-19
The man was arrested by police and has appeared before magistrates.
The governor of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been criticised for misleading remarks about alcohol and the coronavirus.
2. Vaccines aren't being tested on Africans first
Governor Mike Sonko was explaining why he is including bottles of Hennessy cognac in food supplies for vulnerable people in the city, saying it would serve as a "throat sanitiser".
There are widely-shared social media posts claiming that African people are to be used as guinea pigs to test a new coronavirus vaccine.
"From the research which has been conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) and various health organisations it has been revealed that alcohol plays a very major role in killing the coronavirus, or any sort of virus," he said.
However, such claims are false - there is no vaccine for Covid-19 and only a number of clinical trials are taking place, none of them currently in African countries.
He appears to have misinterpreted WHO health advice. It says drinking alcohol does not protect you against the coronavirus, but it does refer to the efficacy of alcohol-based gel to clean your hands.
This erupted on social media again after an interview featuring two French scientists on 1 April went viral and they were accused of calling for a vaccine to be tested on Africans first.
The WHO advice adds that alcohol consumption "is likely to increase the health risks if a person becomes infected with the virus".
One of them asks if tests to see if a tuberculosis vaccine is effective against the coronavirus could be done in Africa where "there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?"
Hennessy, the manufacturers of Hennessy cognac, have also cautioned Kenyans against consuming alcohol with the belief that it will offer protection.
The comments were widely criticised, by among others the World Health Organization (WHO) and football stars Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba who said "Africa isn't a testing lab."
3. Blue facemasks are not contaminated
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Africa can't and will not be a testing ground for any vaccine, we will follow all the rules to test any vaccine or therapeutics all over the world using exactly the same rules."
Two posts on Facebook, which have been urging Africans not to wear blue face masks amid claims they are contaminated with toxins, have been widely shared.
However, the scientists say they've been misrepresented.
The first post claims to be quoting Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and a supposed scheme to distribute contaminated masks.
In the interview, they do not say that testing of the vaccine should be carried out in Africa first - but that a parallel study should be carried out there too.
"Dear Africans, avoid wearing the blue masks that are made in America and Europe because these masks contain suicidal toxic [sic]" the post reads. It doesn't explain what toxins they are supposed to contain.
3. Black skin isn't resistant to Covid-19
Amazon says the quotes have been fabricated.
There have been persistent suggestions on social media about skin colour and resistance to the illness.
A post on another page - this time falsely quoting the head of the World Health Organization - also urges people not to wear blue masks.
On 13 March, the Kenyan health minister dismissed the rumours that "those with black skin cannot get coronavirus".
Mary Stephen, from the WHO regional office for Africa, told the BBC the organisation hasn't received any reports of contaminated masks.
We spoke to Professor Thumbi Ndung'u from the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine in Durban who said "there is absolutely no evidence to back up the idea - and indeed, we know that people with black skin are getting infected."
"Countries are sourcing their masks from different sources, and we are not aware of any contamination," she says.
4. A cup of black tea does not cure coronavirus
4. Masks do not guarantee protection
Keeping hydrated is important for your health, but drinking black tea is not a cure or treatment for Covid-19 as has been claimed.
A regional governor in Nigeria has been criticised after implying that wearing a mask guarantees protection from the virus and that if wearing them, social distancing is unnecessary.
According to local Kenyan media reports, people there have been receiving phone calls advising them to drink tea to avoid the coronavirus - and that if they didn't they might die from the illness.
Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross River state, was launching a "No Mask, No Movement" campaign in the regional capital Calabar to raise awareness about masks.
It's a myth that has been spread elsewhere and has no medical basis.
But he makes incorrect claims about the benefit of wearing masks.
5. No, you don't need to shave your beard to protect against the virus
A video circulating online shows him saying: "Because I'm a professor of science and I know how this virus moves, I know that once you put on this mask, you already have been protected."
An old graphic created by the US health authorities about facial hair and respirators has been used incorrectly to suggest men should shave off their beards to avoid catching the coronavirus.
He then goes on to say you don't need to follow social distancing measures once you have a mask.
The Nigerian Punch newspaper's headline said: "To be safe from coronavirus, shave your beard, CDC warns"
The state's health commissioner, Dr Betta Edu, told the BBC that the governor was trying to emphasise the importance of masks, but clarified that you do need to take other precautions as well.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) image shows dozens of examples of facial hair and which ones to avoid when wearing a respirator mask. Beard styles such as Side Whiskers and the Zappa are approved but the Garibaldi and French Fork can interfere with the valve and prevent the respirator working properly.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says: "Wearing a mask alone will NOT protect you from #COVID19."
The graphic is genuine - but it was created in 2017 (well before the coronavirus outbreak) for workers who wear tight-fitting respirators. Contrary to what's been reported, the CDC has not published it recently and it does not recommend that people shave off their beards.
Similar headlines have appeared in other countries, generating thousands of shares. Australian news outlet 7News posted on Twitter: "How your beard may unknowingly increase your risk of coronavirus."
6. Nigerian preacher fighting coronavirus
An evangelical preacher who claims he can cure the virus has also been the subject of disinformation.
Stories about David Kingleo Elijah, from the Glorious Mount of Possibility Church started spreading online after a video of him saying he would move to China to "destroy" the virus was uploaded on YouTube and shared on other platforms.
"I am going prophetically to destroy coronavirus. I am going to China, I want to destroy coronavirus," he says in the video.
A few days later, reports appeared in blogs alleging that he had travelled to China but had been admitted to hospital after contracting the virus. The blogs refer to the pastor under a different name - Elija Emeka Chibuke.
The photo used to show him in hospital is actually a photo of Adeshina Adesanya, a Nigerian actor popularly known as Pastor Ajidara, who died in hospital in 2017.
