New Zealanders have been cautioned to take anything spread on social media about Coronavirus with a grain of salt after a deliberate conspiracy attracted mass panic.
Minister of Health Chris Hipkins called out one prominent online thread in particular which had claimed community transimission had been linked back to a woman from the original cluster having snuck into a managed isolation facility.
"Once piece of information in particular has spread like wildfire and created extreme distress for the family who is at the centre of it," Mr Hipkins said.
"Not only was it harmful and dangerous, it was totally and utterly wrong."
Mr Hipkins said the claim has been fully investigated by the Ministry of Health, with the allegations being disproven as "completely false".
The level of orchestration which went into crafting the false rumour could have only been a deliberate act to cause panic, according to Hipkins.
"At a time when we are fighting a pandemic and we need all hands on deck to beat it down, this sort of behaviour is deliberately designed to create panic, fear and confusion.
"It is completely unacceptable."
The Minister of Health says New Zealanders need to think twice what they see online before choosing to share information that is unverified.
The post has since been removed by the page that put it on Facebook.
SHARE ME