Purported government advisory lists shopping malls and hotels in the Philippines that the department of health advises against visiting during the novel coronavirus epidemic.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:, The post’s Tagalog-language caption translates to English as: "Guys this is legit. Be aware and keep safe . This was not Yet released by DOH . / Source from my Friend, who works at DOH.”, The text in the image lists five shopping malls and four hotels in the Metro Manila area that should be avoided. It reads: "Guys got this info where in DOH has started COVID19 tracing. Please avoid these locations:\n\t"Sm aura\n\t"sm moa\n\t"sm megamall\n\t"Evia\n\t"glorietta\n\t"sofitel\n\t"shang mkati\n\t"solaire hotel\n\t"Belmont hotel\n\t"These are where those who tested positive for NCOVid 19 went. This is very confidential and not yet released by DOH as of today they have discovered 11positive individuals and they went here. 162 cases already here in taguig boss lackdown all bars in bgc right now,..", The novel coronavirus, COVID-19,\xa0was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020., Since emerging in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late last year, the new coronavirus has infected more than 125,000 people and killed\xa04,600 globally, according to this AFP report dated March 12, 2020., As of March 12, the Philippines has 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to this DOH statement. Five people have died\xa0from the infection, the department announced in this statement., The list of malls and hotels\xa0was also shared here and here on Facebook and here and here on Twitter, alongside a similar claim., The\xa0claim is\xa0misleading; the Philippine Department of Health issued a statement on its Facebook page, labelling the purported advisory “fake”., , In this post, published March 10, 2020, the government agency said: “DOH flags circulating message advising the public to avoid certain malls, hotels, and establishments as false. DOH has not issued any advisory on this matter.”, Below is a screenshot of the statement, which shows the purported government advisory overlaid with a “FAKE!” stamp:, Latest press releases from the Department of Health issued March 10, 2020 and March 11, 2020 do advise against visiting crowded places, but do not mention specific establishments., They state\xa0in part: “We also advise everyone to avoid visiting public places and/or attending mass gatherings at this critical time.”, , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
Philippine Department of Health refutes hoax warning about visiting shopping malls and hotels during coronavirus epidemic | AFP Fact Check