In recent weeks, there has been an increase in Covid-19 cases, brought on partly by the XBB.1.16 Omicron subvariant that emerged earlier this year.
With a new variant comes many unknowns, and this has led to some misinformation being spread on messaging services like WhatsApp.
On Wednesday (19 Apr), the Ministry of Health (MOH) put out an advisory warning that claims of the XBB.1.16 variant being “five times more toxic” than the Delta variant are false.
It also refuted other claims in a widely-forwarded message, such as that the variant is harder to detect and causes more fatalities.
Most cases are mild and there have not been more cases of severe illness despite an uptick in cases overall.
The message, seen by MS News, claims that the new Omicron variant is “different, deadly and not easily detected properly”.
Image courtesy of an MS News reader
It also claims that swab tests are “generally negative” for the variant.
Image courtesy of an MS News reader
The fact that the message is marked as “forwarded many times” is arguably the icing on the cake.
On Wednesday (19 Apr) night, MOH put out a Facebook post refuting the claims in the message.
“International and local data have shown that the Omicron XBB subvariant is milder than the Delta variant, and does not have a higher mortality rate,” MOH said.
Source: Ministry of Health on Facebook
It also said that current tests are able to detect Covid-19 infections, including XBB strains.
Further, there is no clear dominant stream at the moment, and no evidence that any strains cause more severe illness.
“ICU admissions remain stable and low, with less than ten Covid-19 patients in ICU at any one time over the past month,” MOH said.
The public is strongly advised to refer to credible sources of information. The implication is that WhatsApp isn’t the most credible source.
You can visit www.moh.gov.sg for the latest information on Covid-19.
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Featured image courtesy of an MS News reader and Mufid Majnun on Unsplash.
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