The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has completely refuted a deeply concerning rumour that a person living in Da Nang tested positive for coronavirus.

Such fake news which has gone strongly viral on social networks over recent days adversely sparked the general public’s fear and anxiety over the possibility of new coronavirus wave in Da Nang.

The fake news featured a result released by the Lien Chieu District Medical Centre on a female woman residing in Da Nang catching the SARS-CoV-2 virus, doctor Ton That Thanh, the Director of the Da Nang Center for Disease Control said.

Previously, in fact, a male native of Da Nang who had been in close contact with a new Viet Nam positive case in the community in Ho Chi Minh City tested negative for the virus.

Da Nang is focusing on tracking down all close contacts of this man in order to place them into isolation at district-level medical facilities, and public hospitals in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

Over recent times, some Vietnamese people have made use of the complicated Covid-19 pandemic to spread false information on social media to generate likes, views and shares without worrying about the consequences of their harmful actions.

To address this raging issue, the Vietnamese government has decided to slap fines on people who put up false, slanderous or lurid content online.

In details, a new decree, effective from mid April, imposes a fine of 10-20 million VND(426$-853$) for taking advantage of social networks to provide fake information, slander or insult agencies and organisations, lower the honor or dignity of individuals; promote superstition, obscenity or depravity that is incompatible with the nation's traditions and customs; providing and sharing information describing the act of killing and horror, graphic images.

By Bao Tin Tuc- Translated by A.T