Kenya Gov’t Allays Fears of Coronavirus After Fake Recording Goes Viral

The government has dismissed as fake a viral recording purporting to be a media briefing confirming cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kenya.

In a statement on Monday, government spokesperson Col. Cyrus Oguna maintained that no one has been diagnosed with the deadly virus in the country terming the audio recording circulated on social media on Monday as “alarmist and inciteful.”

“The Government has noted with serious concern the spreading of fake news about COVID-19 in the country. One of the fake news is an audio clip doing rounds in digital and social media of a purported press briefing on COVID-19,” stated Oguna.

“This fake news is alarmist, inciteful and its sole purpose is to cause fear and spread panic to the public. The public is advised to ignore these fake rumors and only respond to statements from formal Government channels.”

Oguna further assured that the government has put up appropriate measures to ensure the dreaded virus does not spread to Kenya.

“As communicated earlier, the government has put in place measures to monitor and screen all passengers transiting through or originating from countries with reported outbreaks of COVID-19,” he added.

He warned that authorities will pursue, arrest and charge those behind the false scare.

“These fake and alarmist rumors have been forwarded to the Cybercrime Unit at DCI for investigation, arrest, and prosecution of the authors.” 

“The government wishes to remind the public that it is a criminal offense to impersonate Government officials. It is also criminal to spread such malicious and alarmist statements through social and digital channels,” he said.

The virus has so far killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, a majority of them in mainland China. It has also infected over 88,000 others globally.