Emirates has suspended flights to Johannesburg after South Africa announced its first case of novel coronavirus.
The statement, which has grammatical errors, adds that the airline has suspended all flights to OR Tambo International Airport effective March 7, 2020 until further notice., When contacted for comment, a representative from the airline’s customer service desk in Nairobi informed PesaCheck that the statement shared on social media is fabricated, and advised travellers to visit the airline’s website for travel updates., The most recent travel update on the Emirates Airlines website was issued on March 4, a day before South Africa reported its first case of COVID-19., The World Health Organization confirmed the first case of coronavirus in South Africa on March 5. The affected person had just returned from a trip to Italy on March 1., While addressing the media on the development, President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that the patient is currently in isolation, and that the country is taking the necessary steps to handle reported cases of COVID-19., Cameroon reported a case of the novel coronavirus on March 6, bringing the total number of cases recorded across the continent to 23., PesaCheck has looked into the statement claiming that Emirates has suspended flights to Johannesburg and finds it to be FALSE., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organizations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Verification Researcher Sylvia Makinia, and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Christine Mutisya ., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovate African fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organizations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE: Emirates has not suspended flights to Johannesburg due to coronavirus