The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has nullified news claiming that one of the Chinese doctors brought to Nigeria had tested positive for the COVID-19.
The Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, member of the PTF, on Wednesday's daily briefing nullified this claim by the task force in Abuja.
The Minister, who observed that the task force had been having to devote as much energy devoted to the fight against COVID-19 to dispelling fake news, being regularly spun against the efforts of government in fighting the pandemic.
He also took time to deflate reports claiming that members of the National Assembly had shared a N700 million fund, describing it as fake news.
“Whether members of the National Assembly are sharing N700 million, like I said, just as we are trying to fight and contain Coronavirus, a lot of energy is also being expended in fighting fake news.
“To the best of my knowledge, I’m not aware that any such money has been given to members of the National Assembly, but I know that fake news is not abating.
“This morning, there was a message that went viral, to the effect that one of the Chinese doctors tested positive and that news was supposed to have emanated from the Twitter handle of the federal government.
"I want to say, to the best of our knowledge here, there’s no such thing.
“I’ve also just received two hate dramas and other fake news while I was sitting here, which I’ve been unable to open.
"But we will continue always to debunk fake news and we’ll try our best to timely give you information about the COVID-19, either through our daily press briefings or through the website of the NCDC and the task force”, he said.
Source: The nation, StrenuousBlog
Disclaimer: Comments and opinions on any part of this website are the opinions of blog commenters or anonymous individuals, and do not reflect Strenuous Blog position.