Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 March 2020:
A fake news report published in an online publication – ucrtv.com, claiming that Sierra Leone has recorded its first case of the coronavirus, is maliciously untrue according to government officials in Freetown.
Despite the deputy minister of information earlier this week warning the media against publishing fake news, there are a few people out there who are looking to cash in on spreading false news about the country and its battle to prevent the coronavirus from entering Sierra Leone.
Earlier today the ministry of information published a statement regarding a leaked memo signed by the District Medical Officer of Bo District, about a young lady who was suspected of carrying the coronavirus and was undergoing tests.
The information ministry said: “News trending on social media about a positive Corona case is false. The first test at the Kenema government hospital was negative. Further steps will be conducted to validate the Kenema result. There are also concerns about patient confidentiality which has been breached in this instance.”
But this evening, BBC reporter – Umaru Fofana, reported that: “The second test on yesterday’s suspected coronavirus case in Sierra Leone has also returned a NEGATIVE result. It leaves Sierra Leone as the ONLY country in west Africa without a confirmed case of the virus.”
This good news comes as many African countries continue to record increased cases of the virus on their shores and struggling to contain it. These are the latest figures:
Algeria – 201; Egypt – 294; Morocco – 109; Tunisia – 75; Libya – 1; Benin – 2; Burkina Faso – 75; Ghana – 24; Guinea – 2; Ivory Coast – 25; Liberia – 3; Mauritania – 2; Nigeria- 30; Senegal – 79; Togo – 16; The Gambia – 1; Niger – 2; Cape Verde – 3; Mali – 2; Guinea-Bissau – 2; Sierra Leone – 0; Cameroon – 40; Central African Republic – 3; Congo-Brazzaville – 4; DR Congo – 36; Equatorial Guinea – 6; Gabon – 6; Chad – 1; Sao Tome and Principe – 0; Eswatini – 1; Namibia – 3; South Africa – 402; Zambia – 2; Zimbabwe – 2; Madagascar – 3; Angola – 2; Mozambique – 1; Malawi 0; Comoros 0; Lesotho 0; Botswana 0; Ethiopia – 11; Kenya – 16; Rwanda – 17; Seychelles – 7; Somalia – 1; Sudan – 2; Tanzania – 12; Djibouti – 1; Mauritius – 7; Eritrea; Uganda 8; Burundi 0; South Sudan 0.
This is the fake report published today about coronavirus in Sierra Leone:
Sierra Leone confirms first case of coronavirus http://ucrtv.com/sierra-leone-confirms-first-case-of-coronavirus/
Based on the information from scientists, Coronavirus is inevitable all around the world and I’m not trying to be negative, but it will be a miracle from the Almighty if the people of Sierra Leone escape this deadly disease – our leaders must continue to be proactive just in case it shows up.
The government must also warn our citizens to be respectful to the Chinese who have been on our side through difficult times like the Ebola crisis,because there is information going around that they are referring to Chinese nationals in our country as Coronavirus which is very derogatory and discriminatory. So I hope the government will put a stop to that and I hope that the destructive APC supporters will not accuse the government of banning free speech.