No, there is no financial aid for ‘orphans’ on verge of dropping out
Image: Namibia Fact Check A post that has been circulating since 2019 has re-emerged on social media, encouraging “orphans” to apply for financial aid by sending their personal details to an unverified email account. The post has been going around in Namibian social media groups in September and October 2021 and has been especially viral […]
No, there is no Chinese created ‘portal’ on the Home Affairs website
Image courtesy Twitter / Namibia Fact Check The false claim was made by Windhoek mayor and Affirmative Repositioning activist Job Amupanda on social media. On 4 October 2021, Amupanda tweeted that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security had given permission for the “Chinese to Insert a Portal” on the ministry’s website in […]
No, the Oshikoto governor did not say 91% of region ‘deprived of information’
Image courtesy Namibia Fact Check An article in state-owned daily New Era falsely claimed that the Oshikoto governor made the misleading claim. The article which was published on the front page of the state-owned newspaper on Monday, 4 October 2021, under the headline “91% of Oshikoto deprived of information”, states in its introductory paragraphs: “OMUTHIYA […]
No, Namibia did not fully vaccinate 10% of its population by end September
Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash Health minister Kalumbi Shangula misleadingly stated in a news report that Namibia had met the global target. On Monday, 4 October 2021, The Namibian newspaper published an article on page five in which Namibian health minister, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, falsely claimed that Namibia had met a global target of […]
No, Norway did not reclassify COVID-19 as a flu
Image courtesy WhatsApp A misleading social media post claims the country considers COVID-19 no more dangerous than the ordinary flu Update: Paragraph added on 5 September 2021 to include link to Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) website. The ‘COVID-19-is-a-flu’ lie continues to circulate in a new guise. A viral post that looks like a […]
No, inhaling or eating onion does not prevent or cure COVID-19
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash Viral video pushes the common onion as a treatment or cure for COVID-19 despite such claims having been debunked many times. Claims that inhaling onion fumes or ingesting onion as a way to prevent, treat or cure COVID-19 have been circulating virally on social media for months, and have […]
No, the AstraZeneca vaccine was not created in 2018
Image: WhatsApp / Namibia Fact Check An image of vaccine packaging with a fake date stamp has been virally shared to falsely claim the pandemic and vaccines are a hoax. The latest disinformation around a COVID-19 vaccine is a viral image of packaging of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine that was digitally doctored to make […]
No, the vaccinated are not dying in droves and Africa is not being depopulated
Image: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A video clip of controversial personality Michael Amushelelo making false COVID-19 vaccine claims continues to circulate virally on WhatsApp. In the eight-minute and 45-second (08:45) video clip, which first went viral in March 2021 shortly after Namibia’s COVID-19 vaccination drive started, Amushelelo makes various claims which are demonstrably false. […]
No, Singapore did not perform an autopsy that showed COVID-19 is bacterial
Image: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp The viral false post that is poorly written also claims that Singapore discarded WHO protocols for treating COVID-19 patients. Another day, another anonymous post making false claims. This one was going around in Namibian WhatsApp groups in late May to early June 2021 and repeats claims made in earlier […]
No, an Indian student didn’t invent a concoction to cure COVID-19
Image: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A viral message has been doing the rounds about an Indian student having discovered a cure for COVID-19 that has been approved by the WHO. The ‘third wave’ falsehoods continue to swirl unrelentingly. The latest falsehood to enjoy virality in Namibian social media groups is one about an Indian […]