As the name of most likely 'patient zero' is revealed, fake news in this regards is going viral. One of the websites World News Daily Report carried an article that patient zero contracted coronavirus as he had sex with bats. Without trying to analyse that this is a website putting out satirical report, people are sharing it widely on social media.
According to Wikipedia, World News Daily Report (WNDR) is a satirical fake news website purporting to be an American Jewish Zionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedicated to covering biblical archeology news and other mysteries around the Globe.
Fake news spreading
Tagline of WNDR itself states "Where facts don't matter." A fake news bursting website, Snopes.com reported that WNDR perperates hoaxes and rumors to prey on credulous readers. The reports include scientific fakery, political conspiracy theories, and fake news on issues that are most read about.
The report in World News Daily Report goes with the headline: "COVID-19: CHINESE HEALTH AUTHORITIES CONFIRM PATIENT ZERO HAD SEX WITH BATS." It even includes a quote allegedly by the father of 'patient zero'. The report states: "Yin Dao Tang, 24, from the province of Hubei, is the first case of the novel coronavirus that emerged on November 17, according to Chinese government data. Tang is believed to have contracted the disease after indulging in sexual acts with several animals, including bats."
Without naming anyone, the report also claims that Chinese officials have asked the population to abstain temporarily from oral, genital or anal sexual contact with animals, especially bats. The other such fake reports on WNDR are like: "Italy: 21-year-old man cured himself of COVID-19 by drinking his own semen"; "Mexico: Woman infected with COVID-19 gives birth to twins, names them Corona and Virus etc."
Wei Guixian is 'Patient Zero'?
The news that 57-year-old Wei Guixian is likely to be the 'patient zero' and reports claim that she is most likely to have contracted coronavirus from toilet in Hunan's seafood market. Wei is a seller of shrimp at the seafood market in Hunan, Wuhan. She first fell ill on December 10 but she was diagnosed with coronavirus only in the last week of December.
