“Malaysia finds the cure for the deadly coronavirus,” claims the headline of an article dated 10 February 2020 and shared on Facebook.
“Malaysia has so far cured 3 people infected with the novel coronavirus (nCoV-2019),” the article says. This is “a signal of hope for all Malaysians and the world”.
Has Malaysia, a country in southeast Asia, found a cure for Covid-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes? We checked.
Channel News Asia gives a list of some of the people in Malaysia who have recovered from coronavirus infection.
One is a four-year-old girl who was allowed to return home on 4 February.
A live map using World Health Organization data shows that 42 people with Covid-19 had recovered by 16 March.
We could find no credible news reports that Malaysia has found a cure for Covid-19.
On 11 March the WHO declared that the disease was a pandemic – a serious outbreak in many countries. If a cure had been found, it would have been reported widely.
The article itself does not say Malaysia has found a cure for coronavirus. It only says three people had recovered from the disease by 10 February.
The headline is false. - Taryn Willows
“Malaysia has so far cured 3 people infected with the novel coronavirus (nCoV-2019),” the article says. This is “a signal of hope for all Malaysians and the world”.
Has Malaysia, a country in southeast Asia, found a cure for Covid-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes? We checked.
Coronavirus recoveries in Malaysia
Channel News Asia gives a list of some of the people in Malaysia who have recovered from coronavirus infection.
One is a four-year-old girl who was allowed to return home on 4 February.
A live map using World Health Organization data shows that 42 people with Covid-19 had recovered by 16 March.
Recoveries not evidence Malaysia has ‘found cure’
We could find no credible news reports that Malaysia has found a cure for Covid-19.
On 11 March the WHO declared that the disease was a pandemic – a serious outbreak in many countries. If a cure had been found, it would have been reported widely.
The article itself does not say Malaysia has found a cure for coronavirus. It only says three people had recovered from the disease by 10 February.
The headline is false. - Taryn Willows
Republish our content for free
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment