CORONAVIRUS
KUALA LUMPUR: A news report claiming that a 23-year-old Indian national had died in Malaysia from the 2019 novel coronavirus is false.
The Health Ministry in its official Facebook account said there were no Indian nationals listed in the records of its laboratory handling clinical samples testing for coronavirus.
“Based on information received up to 6pm today (Jan 30), the 23-year-old Indian national as mentioned in the news report is not in the list of notifications and positive cases reported to MOH,” the ministry posting said.
According to the report in the Indian news portal, the grandfather of the said 23-year-old man had received a call from the Malaysian authorities on Wednesday, informing him that his grandson had died of the disease.
Meanwhile, in Georgetown, the Penang Health Department yesterday denied that three Malaysians were being treated for the 2019 novel coronavirus at Hospital Pulau Pinang, as alleged in a message circulating on social media platform WhatsApp yesterday.
In a statement, the department said the message claiming that a man and his daughter, as well as a woman, were being treated at the hospital for the virus infection, was not true.
In urging the public not to spread fake news, the department said: “Always refer to valid sources via proper channels. False news does not benefit anyone.”
It added that any individual found spreading false news could be prosecuted under section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or maximum imprisonment of one year or both. – Bernama
