Two managing directors of two commercial banks in a phone conversions Monday has discussed that “Dosto this virus is manmade and China spread it to Western country’s for defeating them economically,”
Two rickshaw pullers were talking among them that many people have been died by the corona infection. “Government is hiding the dead bodies from people,” he added.
A mobile phone refill shop owner at city’s Motijheel area told a customer that over 5,000 people are infected by Corona Virus across Dhaka city. But the customer protested him claiming that it crosses over lakh.
A wave of misinformation and rumour on COVID-19 floods phones turns the capital Dhaka city a “rumourous ghost” city Monday.
The city is now engulfed with rumour over virus infected people and causality. Most of the city people do not believe the statistics the Prof Dr. Mirzadi Sabrina Flora, director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) said.
Misinformation, fake news spark Bangladesh coronavirus fears
Bangladesh’s battle against the coronavirus has many obstacles – large crowds, a stretched health system and inadequate infrastructure – as the number of infections rose to 25 on Monday.
But beyond these limitations, familiar foes are rearing their faces: misinformation and fake news.
Through its vast social media networks (Facebook, Twitter , Whatsapp) a wave of inaccuracy is spreading on the virus, which causes an illness known as COVID-19.
From advising unverified home remedies to tackle the virus, to floating false advisories asking people to avoid foods such as ice cream and chicken, and sharing conspiracy theories, Bangladesh phones are being flooded with misinformation.
The country’s stock markets plunged to its lowest level since 2010 amid fears of the disease.
Bangladesh is one of the biggest market for the Facebook-owned messaging application, WhatsApp, with more than 60 million users in a country which had 70 million smartphones in 2019.
Searching for answers in videos
The panic over the spread of COVID-19 has meant that Bangladeshis are also searching for answers on YouTube, which has more than 45 million monthly active users in Bangladesh.
