The Department of Health has dismissed Covid-19 ‘fake news’ circulating on social media.
- The Department of Health has dismissed misleading
messages being circulated on social media. - The messages claim the alleged detection of a new
Covid-19 variant of concern. - According to the department, there was currently no
epidemiological evidence that these sublineages will be of substantially
greater risk.
The National Department of Health says it has noted
a misleading message being circulated on social media platforms and attributed
to the Ministry of Health.
The fake messages call for everyone to wear a mask
because of the alleged detection of a new Covid-19 variant of concern.
On Saturday, the department dismissed the claims,
referring to them as “fake news”.
“The department would like to dismiss this as
fake news by faceless sources whose sole intention is to create unnecessary
panic,” department spokesperson Foster Mohale said in a statement.
“The fact of the matter is, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) issued a notification in October this year on the Omicron
sublineages BQ.1 and XBB, detected around the world as part of ongoing work to
track variants by the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution
(TAG-VE).
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“The role of the TAG-VE is to alert WHO if a
variant that can cause more severe disease, or lead to large epidemic waves
causing increased burden to the healthcare system, is emerging and likely to
pose a significant threat.”
Mohale added that there was currently no
epidemiological evidence that these sublineages will be of substantially
greater risk compared to other Omicron sublineages.
The department said it was working with the
National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and scientists to continue
to monitor all Covid-19 lineages.
It urged South Africans to continue to be vigilant
as they take part in festive season activities.
“The known [Covid-19] virus variants are still
in circulation, and we are not off the hook from the pandemic, hence people are
urged to vaccinate and take any booster shots that they qualify for, to enhance
their level of immunity,” added Mohale.
