Published 20:59 IST, February 2nd 2020
"No, coronavirus won't turn you into a zombie," assures Malaysian government amid rumours
Malaysia has reportedly been under stress over rumours that the strain of the Wuhan 2019-nCoV virus would turn them into zombies like 'The Walking Dead'.
Amid widespread panic over Coronaviris outbreak, rumours likening it to zombie apocalypse were doing the rounds making the situation worse. In an attempt to check the spread of misinformation surrounding Coronaviris, Malaysia's government recently took to social media to dismiss the rumours about people turning to Zombies due to infection from the deadly Coronavirus. "The deadly Wuhan virus will not cause the victims to transform into a Zombie," confirmed the government.
Malaysians fear turning into a zombie like The Walking Dead
The citizens of Malaysia have reportedly been under stress over rumours that the strain of the Wuhan 2019-nCoV virus would turn them into zombies as they dismissed the possibilities of medical treatment. They also struck a comparison of the coronavirus with the disease in the Hollywood zombie apocalypse movie The Walking Dead.
Malaysia has been struggling to control the misinformation
Malaysia's health ministry dismissed the rumour in a tweet, saying, "The claim that individuals infected with this virus will behave like zombies is not true. Patients can recover." They further added, “The death rate is low (between two to three per cent) as compared to MERS-CoV (around 34 per cent) and SARS (about 10 per cent).”
Malaysia has been struggling to control the misinformation circulating in the country through various channels about the wrong figures of the death toll and infection cases, suggest reports. The Malaysian Police have reportedly made six arrests in connection to circulation of false reports and rumours about the virus.
Amongst the individuals that the police have detained was a 49-year-old tutor who was detained on charges of uploading fake content pertaining to the virus. Another 28-year-old woman was under investigation on charges of improper use of network facilities in Malaysia, suggest reports. According to the authorities, she can be fined up to 50,000 Malaysian ringgit and may have to serve prison time for at least a year.
Updated 20:59 IST, February 2nd 2020