In midst of Covid-19, fake news is the bane of Sendayan

CORONAVIRUS | The emergence of a new Covid-19 cluster in Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan early this week has brought with it waves of fake news on social media, said upset community leaders.

Speaking to Malaysiakini on Friday, they said that the irresponsible act of spreading these fake news items had triggered unnecessary alarm among the residents and created panic.

According to a religious leader in Bandar Sri Sendayan and a residents association chairperson, Whatsapp groups that connect residents have been abuzz with unverified messages since a prominent figure in the area died of the virus last Sunday (April 12).

"It came as a shock to us, especially when Sendayan became a red zone on Monday when the number of cases here suddenly shot up from zero to 40.

"But that was not all. 

"It turned to panic when fake messages started flooding the social media, especially through Whatsapp messages that are circulated around," said Arriz Tassri Abu Bakar, who is an imam at Sheikh Haji Ahmad Mosque.

For the record, the first death recorded in the area was that of a 54-year-old leader of a group which was active in both business as well as religious activities there.

He was reportedly admitted to the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital in Seremban on April 11, before he succumbed to Covid-19 early morning the next day. The victim also had a history of diabetes, hypertension and renal issues.

The death has prompted the Health Ministry to scramble and initiate contact tracing activities, which soon revealed that 39 others had also been infected by the virus, including 11 members of the deceased's family.

The Ministry then embarked on a mass screening activity, where they spent nearly two days between Wednesday to Thursday to screen over 300 members of the group. 

As of noon Friday, they detected a total of 76 positive cases linked to the cluster.

Arriz said the mass screening activity was so far focused on the members of the group, but some irresponsible quarters had started circulating messages claiming that the Healthy Ministry was screening 8,000 people in the area.

He showed some of the messages, including one that detailed a purported list of neighbourhoods that have seen infection.

"These are among the fake news items that have been widely shared in Bandar Sri Sendayan. This is what has caused the people to panic.

"Whatsapp groups had since been flooded with text messages from the people expressing their fears for their safety," he said.

Residents told to stick to verified info

The increasing alarm among the residents of Bandar Sri Sendayan, which is estimated to have a population of about 30,000, had prompted local leaders, residents associations as well as the mosque to take their own initiative to control the situation.

According to the imam, they used the mosque's Whatsapp and Telegram groups to disseminate messages telling the people not to believe any unverified information that they receive.

"We also told them not to forward these messages, until the Ministry gives confirmation on anything that happens."

Mohd Zin Mustapa, who is the chairperson of the Taman Nusari Bayu 1 Residents Association, said that they had also taken similar steps to quell the uneasy feeling among residents.

"There were messages that said mass screening was going to be conducted, as residents are feared to have been infected by the virus.

"The people started to become a bit panicked when they read these things. But, I have always told my fellow residents here that we should not.

"I said - let's wait in front of the television, and wait for the Health director-general's announcements. That would be the correct information. So don't listen to all these rumours," he said.

Meanwhile, fake news had also affected the group, which is now struggling to face the death of their leader while a large number of their big 'family' are positive with Covid-19.

A member of the affected group, Miqdam Bakhtiar expressed his disappointment over the matter.

"I have read on Facebook that the group was accused of organising 'tahlil' after the death of their leader knowingly he died of the virus.

"This was not true. We did not organise any tahlil (for the late leader) after his passing. But the public thought we did, because of the fake news," he said.

According to Miqdam, who is now under quarantine, the group members themselves were shocked to learn that the deceased had Covid-19.

He said the man was known to have health complications for quite some time, which caused him to stay at home a lot.

The victim was taken to hospital on Saturday when he became very ill.

Miqdam added that they were also puzzled on where the victim could have picked up the virus. - Mkini