LOVE Island’s Dr Alex George has assured his followers that a ‘disturbing’ voice message doing the rounds on WhatsApp is ‘fake’ and ‘nonsense’.
The medic, who is currently fighting the coronavirus outbreak on the frontline alongside his NHS colleagues, slammed the viral message for sending waves of panic throughout the public.
He wrote an impassioned plea on his Instagram Stories, urging his followers to ignore the message and stop forwarding it on.
“I have loads of DMs regarding this voice recording,” Dr Alex’s message began. “I can assure that this is not true and the ambulance service and indeed the hospitals will be treating everyone in the way they always have.”
He then followed it up with a Tweet to spread the message, writing: “I have heard there is a voice message going around saying that from tonight the ambulance service won’t be bringing unwell patients including children to hospital.. THIS IS NOT TRUE.
@Ldn_Ambulance @NHS”
The 30-year-old went on to slam the culprits of the hoax, saying: “Whoever started this, you have caused fear and panic that is not necessary. Please do not do this.”
He then followed up by writing: “I am so frustrated that someone has started this. It causes so much worry and I have had hundreds of worried mums messaging. Please be careful before starting rumours.”
In the hoax message, which is voiced to make it look like it’s been leaked by someone working with the ambulance service, it states that on Thursday 9th April the UK will hit its peak and face 900 deaths per day from coronavirus.
The hoax message states that one third of the deaths will be babies, children and teenagers with no underlying health issues.
It also says that when this happens the NHS will become overwhelmed and unable to respond.
The recording goes on to suggest that people will be told to manage their symptoms at home and no ambulances will be sent to patients, even those who are struggling to breathe.
On Wednesday evening Professor Viv Bennett, Chief Nurse at Public Health England issued a statement to ITV News also denouncing the hoax recording.
She said: “We are aware of a voice message circulating about the ambulance response to coronavirus, as well as restrictions on movement and predicted case numbers, which claims to have come from PHE.
“This is fake news, and we would urge people to ignore the message and not share it further.”
The coronavirus pandemic has affected millions of people around the world – with cases in over one hundred countries.
And in the UK alone, the confirmed number of those infected with Covid-19 now stands at over 55,000 with the death toll rising to over 6,000.
As Covid-19 is a new virus, experts are still working to understand it.
However, health officials say the most common symptoms of coronavirus infection usually include:
- A dry cough
- A high temperature
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle pain
- Fatigue