The government has assured residents of the country that there is no known reported case of coronavirus so far.
This is after a video from social circles went round Monday and shared widely about confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country.
In a press statement on Monday, the Government Spokesperson, Col. (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna said the recording was alarmist, inciteful and its sole purpose was to cause fear and spread panic to the public.
Oguna urged the public to ignore the fake rumours and only respond to statements from formal government channels
“It is a criminal offense to impersonate government officials and it is also criminal to spread such malicious and alarmist statements through social and digital channels,” the statement said.
The government spokesperson assured that the fake news had been forwarded to the cybercrime unit and the DCI for investigations, arrest and prosecution of the authors and those spreading the same.
Oguna further clarified that any communication on Covid 19 will come from the Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary or Government spokesperson or their appointed personnel.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health cautioned the general public against an audio saying the audio being shared was part of a simulation exercise during the Crisis Communication training on COVID-19, in Machakos County that happened over the weekend.
“The current state of COVID-19 in the country is per the National Emergency Response Committee briefing that took place on Sunday 1st March 2020 and we wish to inform the public that so far, there is NO confirmed case of COVID-19 in the country,” the statement from MOH said.
Members of the public are advised against forwarding unsubstantiated information on social media platforms and urged that for any inquiries related to COVID-19, they should call the Ministry of Health on the Hotlines namely 0800721316, 0732353535 or 0729471414.
Currently the WHO numbers show that by yesterday, Globally there were 87 137 confirmed cases, led by China at 79 968 confirmed and 2873 deaths while outside China there were 7169 confirmed from 58 countries and 104 deaths.
By Wangari Ndirangu
