Alleged plan to spray pesticides vs COVID-19 ‘fake news’ –PNP

There was no truth to messages circulating in social media that special military helicopters would spray pesticides around the country at midnight in an effort to combat COVID-19, the Philippine National Police said on Saturday.

“This is patently FAKE NEWS and must be disregarded outright.  The Inter-Agency Task Force on Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) has denied any such flight operations,” PNP spokesman Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac said in a statement.

Banac added that the Health Department had made it clear that pesticides were effective only against pests not, viruses.

“Properly informed citizens are effective against COVID-19,” the police general countered. “Fake news is the last thing we need in these times of national emergency.”

The PNP-Anti Cybercrime Group meanwhile initiated a technical investigation to identify the authors of the false information. — DVM, GMA News