Virus disinformation drives anti-China sentiment, lockdown fears


Many of these posts claimed that people were dying and that a national emergency had been declared. - AFP

HONG KONG: A deluge of disinformation about a flu-like virus called HMPV is stoking anti-China sentiment across Asia and spurring unfounded concerns of renewed lockdowns, despite experts dismissing comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago.

AFP's fact-checkers have debunked a slew of social media posts about the usually non-fatal respiratory disease human metapneumovirus after cases rose in China. Many of these posts claimed that people were dying and that a national emergency had been declared.

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China , virus , HMPV , disinformation

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