(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –There is no truth to reports people are collapsing on the street and dying after contracting the coronavirus, the Police said.
Police spokesman, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ajith Rohana said that false news is being spread using social media of people collapsing on the street in several places.
Doctored images have been circulated claiming to show coronavirus patients who had collapsed on the street.
DIG Ajith Rohana said that except for a beggar who had been found dead on the street after contracting the coronavirus, no one else had died in such a manner.
He said that an investigation has been launched over the false claims and legal action will be taken against those found guilty of spreading fake news.
The Police spokesman urged the public not to forward fake news as that would create unnecessary panic in the country.
Footage had emerged of Chinese residents collapsing in streets and hospitals across Wuhan when the virus first began to spread.
Wuhan, where cases of coronavirus were first reported before the outbreak spread across the world, had been dubbed “zombieland” by desperate locals at the time.
