COVID-19 Misinformation By Governments

During the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, many people began to spread false or un-confirmed data and information. This included politicians and other government officials from administrations in several countries. Misinformation about the virus includes its origin, how it spreads, and methods of preventing and curing the disease. Some downplayed the threat of the pandemic, and made false statements about preventative measures, death rates and testing within their own countries. Some have also spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Changing policies also created confusion and contributed to the spread of misinformation. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) originally discouraged use of face masks by the general public in early 2020, advising "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection," although the WHO later changed their advice to encourage public wearing of face masks.

Argentina

Argentinian president Alberto Fernández and health minister Ginés García have been accused of spreading misinformation related to COVID-19 multiple times.

In a radio interview Fernández recommended drinking warm drinks since "heat kills the virus". Scientific studies proved that this information is false. Fernández, in response to criticism, later said: "It's a virus that, according to all medical reports in the world, dies at 26ºC. Argentina was in a climatic scenario where temperature was around 30ºC so it would be hard for the virus to survive." He later added: " The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends us to drink warm drinks since heat kills the virus"; however, the WHO did not recommend that at all.

In June, in a press conference, Buenos Aires Province governor Axel Kicillof falsely stated that Spain was in an extremely strict lockdown at that time. A few hours later, the Spanish embassy in Argentina denied it.

Brazil

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro openly attempted to force state and municipal governments to revoke social isolation measures they had begun by launching an anti-lockdown campaign called "''o Brasil não pode parar''" (Brazil can't stop). It received massive backlash both from the media and from the public, and was blocked by the Supreme Court justice.

Even after the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency approved the usage of CoronaVac and the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Bolsonaro said "these are experimental vaccines with no scientific evidence". Bolsonaro also rails against face mask usage and is commonly seen in public without wearing a mask.

In spite of studies showing the ineffectiveness of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, the Brazilian president continued to peddle the drug in posts and live webinars on social media.

Some analysts have noted that Bolsonaro's positions mimic those of former US president Donald Trump, who during his administration also tried to downplay the pandemic and then pressured states to abandon social distancing.

Cambodia

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen downplayed the risk of the virus and demanded the public not wear face masks during a press conference while the initial outbreak in China was ongoing.

China

Cuba

Cuban president Miguel Díaz Canel claimed on Twitter that Cuban Interferon alfa-2b was being used to treat and cure COVID-19 in China, linking to an article written by state-owned newspaper '' Granma''. The Chinese embassy in Cuba also made similar claims. Several Latin American news outlets relayed the story, which was also relayed on social media, and the claims were eventually translated to Portuguese and French. In reality, the interferon was made by a Chinese company, in China, using Cuban technology, and it was under clinical trials in China as a potential cure, but it was not actively being used as such, as the claims suggested.

Egypt

Twitter suspended thousands of accounts linked to El Fagr, an Egypt-based media group "taking direction from the Egyptian government" to "amplify messaging critical of Iran, Qatar and Turkey."

Estonia

On 27 February 2020, the Estonian Minister of the Interior Mart Helme said at a government press conference that the common cold had been renamed as the coronavirus and that in his youth nothing like that existed. He recommended wearing warm socks and mustard patches as well as spreading goose fat on one's chest as treatments for the virus. Helme also said the virus would pass within a few days to a week, just like the common cold.

India

The Ministry of AYUSH recommended homeopathic drug '' Arsenicum album 30'' as a preventive drug for COVID-19. The claim was without any scientific basis or evidence and was widely criticised. A strong consensus prevails among the scientific community that homeopathy is a pseudo-scientific, unethical and implausible line of treatment.UK Parliamentary Committee Science and Technology Committee
"Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy"

Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik claimed that an Ayurveda practitioner cured Prince Charles when he tested positive for the Covid-19. This claim was rubbished by United Kingdom officials. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, said in May 2021 that there was "a new variant of coronavirus found in Singapore" which "is being said to be very dangerous for children". However, there is no known Singaporean variant of COVID-19; a recent report discussing the threat of COVID-19 to Singaporean children was discussing a variant of COVID-19 first detected in India: B.1.617. Many of the recent COVID-19 cases in Singapore were of B.1.617. Experts such as Gavin Smith, a viral evolutionary biologist in Singapore, and Chandrakanth Lahariya, an epidemiologist in India, state that a new Singapore variant is "unlikely" as the level of cases and transmission in Singapore has not been high as of May 2021.

Indonesia

Former Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto addressed the citizens to relax and avoid working overtime to avoid contracting the disease and falsely claimed that flu had a higher mortality rate. Several Indonesian civil society groups called for his dismissal. In the beginning of 2020, Terawan also informed to the people that masks are only worn for sick people and healthy people are not obliged to.

Iran

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US created "a special version" of the virus that is "specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means".

Bahrain accused Iran of "biological aggression that is criminalised by international law" by lying about the extent of the outbreak in Iran.

Madagascar

On 18 April, the president Andry Rajoelina diffused a 17 minutes documentary on national television and social networks retracing the travels of a Brazilian "phophet" that came in Madagascar because that's where the cure to a future biological war will be. Few days later, a herbal tonic made of ''Artemisia annua'' called "Covid Organic" was distributed to the Madagascan public and promoted by several officials, included President Andry Rajoelina, as a "miracle cure" for COVID-19. Medical experts, the country's national medical academy and the World Health Organization cautioned that there was no evidence to support the drink's efficacy against the disease. Despite efforts from the WHO, orders of the herbal drink were sent to Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Niger and Guinea-Bissau. The BBC reported in August 2020 that the President remained supportive of the tonic after it failed to stop the virus from spreading.

In May 2021, the South African variant reach the island and the president Andry Rajoelina affirmed that no vaccine was effective against it despite the scientific data available at the time saying otherwise.

Malaysia

Newly appointed Health Minister Adham Baba falsely claimed during his first television interview in the role on 19 March that drinking warm water could "flush" away SARS-CoV-2, where it would be killed by stomach acid. The clip went viral and received widespread criticism. His statements were refuted by Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah, who said "the practice of the Ministry of Health, whether for treatment or management, is based on evidence." Noor Hisham later took over press briefings and leadership through the pandemic in Malaysia after Baba was sidelined by the government for his early statements.

Mexico

In late March 2020, the governor of the Mexican state of Puebla, Miguel Barbosa Huerta, caused controversy by claiming that COVID-19 affected only "wealthy people". This came amid wider criticism of the federal government and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for their alleged downplayed response to the pandemic, threatening Mexicans' health and the Mexican economy.

Myanmar

Chief Minister of Tanintharyi U Myint Mg shared a Burmese Facebook post on his account that falsely claimed that eating onions is a way to prevent spread of COVID-19, and that the Chinese government were encouraging this during their outbreak.

North Korea

North Korean officials have continued to report that there are no confirmed cases in the country. It was reported that doctors had been told to not discuss COVID-19 as to not damage the reputation and image of Kim Jong-un.

Russia

The European Union watchdog group EUvsDisinfo reported that Russia was pushing what they believe was false information related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic through "pro-Kremlin outlets". On 18 March, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov

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