By Kemo Cham
The World Health Organization has admitted mistake in a social media report over the weekend suggesting that Sierra Leone had recorded a death.
The report which was released via the official twitter handle of the agency’s Africa regional office, sparked reactions from the Sierra Leone government with officials describing it as false.
Information Minister, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, took to Twitter to debunk the report, while Presidential spokesman, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, dismissed the report on his facebook.
A spokesman for the WHO country office told Politico that some data collection officers in the Africa regional office erroneously added the number and was inadvertently posted by their social media agents.
“We have taken the necessary corrective measures. We have pulled it down and replaced it with the correct information,” said Saffea Gborie, Information Officer for the WHO in Freetown.
The development comes as the Sierra Leone and the rest of the world battle a rising spate of fake news, rendering the response efforts to Covid-19 difficult.
Latest update from the Ministry of Health indicate that Sierra Leone’s confirmed cases have grown to 11, as of Tuesday April 14. With the increase in cases comes a major increase in people in quarantine. There were 661 people in quarantine at the time of going to press.
This also brings to a total cumulative quarantine number to 1,428.
Some 767 people have been discharged after completing 14 days in quarantine.
In a statement from the Ministry of Information and Communication, it said the latest case was confirmed by test Monday evening.
“There is no critical case on the status of confirmed cases in isolation. All are in stable condition,” the Ministry said.
The ministry also urged the general public to continue observing the measures announced by the health authorities, including washing of hands with soap and water frequently, and the use of hand sanitizers, avoiding crowded areas, using face masks and maintaining social distancing.
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