Earbud fake news video man to appear in court
The 55-year-old man who posted a video on social media with an earbud stuck in his nose, making accusations of infected Covid-19 testing, handed himself over to police on Monday.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed that the man, known as Stephen Donald Birch is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
“He was not arrested, but he handed himself over to the Parow police station on Monday. He was warned and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday,” Naidoo said.
In the controversial video, Birch calls on South Africans to refuse to be tested for Covid-19 virus during the upcoming the door-to-door campaign.
“Do not under any circumstances allow them to test you. There’s a possibility that the swabs are contaminated with Covid-19.”
The man then claims that, globally, the swabs are used to “spread the virus”, without providing any evidence to support his statement.
Anyone seen the WhatsApp video doing the rounds of an oke telling everyone the 10000 testers are going to infect people with the virus?
My staff have git hold of it and are now going nuts. Can anyone help with this fake news?#CoronavirusInSouthAfrica
— Ange (@OldManZack) April 5, 2020
On Monday, after the video circulated on social media, DA shadow Minister of Health, Siviwe Gwarube, released a statement confirming the video contains inaccurate information.
“There is no truth that test kits are contaminated with the coronavirus; the community health workers who will be going into communities will be screening people who may have symptoms to arrange testing to be done for them at the nearest facility. There will be no tests done in people’s homes. They will screen you (take your temperature and ask questions) for flu-like symptoms,” Gwarube said.
Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
Read original story on rekordmoot.co.za
