Health Ministry thanks media, netizens for role in combating Covid-19

CORONAVIRUS | The Health Ministry (MOH) today praised the role played by the media and netizens in assisting them to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said they have been of great help to disseminate correct information on the pandemic to the public and counter fake news started by some irresponsible quarters.

Speaking at a daily Covid-19 presser in Putrajaya, he also warned the people against sharing unverified information on the virus outbreak.

"Since the beginning of Covid-19 outbreak, we have been facing challenges to combat the coronavirus and 'viral', the latter referring to spread of fake news and unverified information, which spread faster than Covid-19 itself.

"As said by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, we are not only fighting against the virus outbreak but also infodemic regarding this virus. We have to address both issues at the same time.

"While healthcare workers and other frontliners are working relentlessly to curb the spread of Covid-19, media practitioners and journalists had also played a major role in the frontline to send out verified information and also diffuse fake news on the pandemic," he said.

Besides journalists, Noor Hisham (below) also expressed his appreciation to photographers, videographers, and other media practitioners involved in the process including editors, producers, social media administrators and sign language interpreters.

He added that the current technological advancement has also widened the use of new media and social media platforms, and enabled all netizens to also act play role like journalists online.

"MOH wants to praise the many netizens who had been together with the government in fighting Covid-19. Many had done their social responsibility by uploading and forwarding legit information on the virus, movement control order as well as other information that the government wanted to channel to the people," Noor Hisham said.

The top MOH officer also expressed his disappointment in certain quarters who had irresponsibly contributed to the spread of untrue information regarding the outbreak.

This, he added, also saw attempts to mislead the public into disobeying orders and advice that are issued by authorities.

According to Noor Hisham, to date, a total of 266 investigations have been opened by the police and the Communications and Multimedia Commission against fake news.

Of these, 30 individuals have been charged in court while 11 were issued with warning notices.

Authorities have also issued a total of 330 rebuttals and clarification message to counter fake news related to Covid-19.

"The public is reminded to be careful before disseminating any content that is unverified," he said.

Those who have information on fake news can notify the authorities by calling 03-89115103, or go to the website to check on the validity of the information.

 - Mkini