A fake and misleading image claiming that the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed at Theku Plaza, has been circulated online recently. The creator misleadingly placed the Newcastle Advertiser’s e-mail address at the bottom of the image. Both the publication and the Amajuba District Municipality has distanced itself from the notice. Municipality spokesperson Sbonelo Cebekhulu confirmed that it is fake.
The motive behind adding the publication’s e-mail address to the image could have been to create the impression of reliability. However, The Newcastle Advertiser did not create, publish or distribute the image.
The Newcastle Advertiser contacted the District Task Team, which was established to co-ordinate Amajuba’s response to the coronavirus, after receiving queries from the public regarding the image. The Task Team has since assured us that there has not been a confirmed case of Covid-19 at Theku Plaza.
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Centre manager, Estelle van Vuuren, called an ambulance to assist a person at Theku Plaza who wasn’t feeling well last week and suspects that this incident may have been what sparked the rumours.
“We sanitised the whole plaza after this incident took place, but not because the person had coronavirus. I don’t know if the person did have the coronavirus or not. We just sanitised as a precaution, because we care about the community’s health and safety. However, if he did have coronavirus, I am sure the Department of Health would have been in contact with me to assist with contact tracing, and they haven’t. So, I think that it is unlikely that his illness was a result of the virus,” said Ms Van Vuuren.
“I would just like to urge our customers to keep their distance from each other and to wear their mask at all times. If they do this, they will be safe. Inside the centre, all the measures we put in place are there to ensure the community is safe.”
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