KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry has debunked a viral voice message which claims that hospital beds are full and that Covid-19 deaths are on the rise, amid a spike in weekly cases of the coronavirus.
The voice message that is being circulated via WhatsApp is from 2021 and is fake news that should not be spread now as it is causing panic, the ministry said on X (formerly Twitter).
It said the voice note also claims that the number of ‘brought in dead’ cases is on the rise, and that a new virus strain from African countries is circulating.
“The ministry would like to inform that this voice note went viral in 2021 and is now being distributed through WhatsApp to cause public anxiety.
“The public is requested not to spread this false news that can cause panic and to always be vigilant against the spread of Covid-19.”
Earlier today, the ministry said Malaysia had recorded a 57.3% spike in weekly Covid-19 cases, from 2,305 (November 12-18) to 3,626 (November 19-25).
Some 48% of the new cases are patients aged between 20 and 40, while more than 98% are showing mild symptoms.
The ministry also reported four new Omicron variants in epidemiology week 47/2023 from November 19-25.
The results of respiratory virus surveillance in the same epidemiology week found that 55% of the samples consisted of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 26% influenza A(H3) virus, 14% influenza A virus (H1N1), and 5% influenza B virus. – December 3, 2023