Coronovirus simulation exercise spread as fake news

Kenya's Ministry of Health has warned that a WhatsApp audio message which sounds like a government press conference announcing a case of coronavirus in the country was in fact a simulation exercise.

It has asked the public not to cause alarm by sharing the leaked clip for that it will mislead people.

The four-minute, 27-second message starts with an unnamed person thanking members of the press and ambassadors for attending a press briefing on coronavirus. It goes on to say there is a confirmed case in the country.

In the statement the Ministry of Health are clear that this is not true and that there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Kenya.

It is always difficult to discern how far and wide a WhatsApp message has spread, but the fact that the Ministry of Health were moved to issue the statement suggests that it could have flooded Kenyan WhatsApp groups.

Before the health ministry statement, there were already a few clues that it was fake. One was that it is not typical for ambassadors to attend a press conference and there generally is not normally a round of applause at the end of a press conference.

The Ministry of Health would like to caution the general public against an audio being shared on WhatsApp groups about confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Country. There is NO confirmed case of COVID-19 in Kenya. @KNH_hospital @CDCKenya @UNICEFKenya @WHOKenya @BreakingNewsKE pic.twitter.com/dZ5lAPV2C0

— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) March 2, 2020