The World Health Organization (WHO) will continue to take practical steps to combat "misinformation" spread about the origins of the coronavirus disease, officially called COVID-19, while scientists also have a role to play in addressing false information, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2020) The World Health Organization (WHO) will continue to take practical steps to combat "misinformation" spread about the origins of the coronavirus disease, officially called COVID-19, while scientists also have a role to play in addressing false information, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday.
The secretary-general's comments address rumors spread online that COVID-19 is a man-made disease that has been linked to a virology laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
"I think the misinformation ... is actually causing panic and fear in many places, and from the start of our daily press briefing, we have said a lot about it and we will continue to say a lot about it. Not only talk about it and ask for the international community to act, but we're taking practical measures too - working with Google, working with Facebook, working with Amazon, Tencent and so on, to help in addressing this misinformation," Ghebreyesus stated.
The secretary-general referenced a statement published in The Lancet medical journal on Wednesday, in which 27 leading public health scientists "overwhelmingly" concluded that the disease could only have originated in wildlife.
"There was a publication online that refutes that hypothesis and shows that this virus is not actually designed in the lab. Of course, we have to take this study with caution, until we get the source ... we have to continue our research to really see where the source is, but there is already a reliable article," the secretary-general remarked.
WHO officials held a meeting with a number of the world's leading tech companies on Saturday to discuss ways to prevent the spread of misinformation.
COVID-19 has spread to over 25 countries and according to WHO's latest official data, as of 05:00 GMT on Friday, China has reported over 75,000 confirmed cases and more than 2,200 deaths from the disease.
More than 1,100 confirmed cases have been identified outside of China; at least 634 of which concern passengers and crew who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was placed in quarantine at the Japanese port of Yokohama on February 5.
