False COVID-19 hotline number shared in Canada.
The official-looking notice, complete with the Ontario Health agency logo, was shared both by individuals and in large Facebook groups in the province, such as Russians in Waterloo, the Arab community in London, and a group affiliated to an Indian-Canadian TV channel., These posts are false. “811 is not the number to call for Ontarians experiencing COVID-19 symptoms,” Hayley Chazan, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Minister of Health, told AFP by email., Using two different Ontario phone numbers, AFP did not receive an answer\xa0when calling 811., The 811 number is a direct line for health advice from public agencies in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince-Edward-Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Yukon, which may explain the confusion., In Ontario, residents can ask for advice by calling Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. This number is also mentioned in the Facebook posts, but only after the incorrect 811 number., While this\xa0number\xa0provides health advice by phone, it will not dispatch in-home care for callers, as the online posts suggest., Chazan told AFP that individuals who meet the criteria for COVID-19 using the province’s Ministry of Health’s self-assessment tool (available here) should contact their primary care provider, Telehealth Ontario, or their local public health unit. Patients will then be instructed on how to self-isolate or be referred to the appropriate level of care., The Ontario Ministry of Health advises people experiencing difficulty breathing or other severe symptoms to call 911., According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 324 cases had been confirmed in the country\xa0as of March 16, 2020, and one death was reported in the country., AFP Fact Check has investigated more than 115 false and misleading claims about the novel coronavirus., , 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.
False COVID-19 hotline number shared on Facebook in Ontario | AFP Fact Check