A CHIVHU man was yesterday fined $500
after he falsely reported on a WhatsApp
group that a nurse based at Sadza District
Hospital in Chikomba had died of
Covid-19.
Elliot Mafuta (39) was fined at Chivhu
Police Station for contravening section
14 of Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020,
which prohibits publication or communication
of false news during the lockdown
period.
Mafuta was arrested on Friday after
posting the WhatsApp message the previous
day.
On Thursday at 12:02 in the afternoon,
Mafuta posted the message, which read:
“A Sadza Hospital nurse who was Covid-19 positive died yesterday so the situation
requires us to be cautious.”
He later posted on the same day that
he was withholding the name of the deceased
for “other reasons”.
Police received a tip-off, leading to his
arrest.
His claims were dismissed by Sadza
District Hospital administrator Tawanda
Dzvairo who said the health institution
had not recorded any positive Covid-19 case.
“It’s utterly false. At Sadza District
Hospital, we haven’t yet recorded a suspected
or confirmed coronavirus case,”
he said.
Recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa
dismissed a viral social media
message, which claimed that he had suspended
payment of rentals by tenant.
