MOH debunks fake news on S'pore doing first Covid-19 autopsy and jailing those unvaccinated

Two pieces of fake news made about Covid-19 in Singapore have been debunked by the Ministry of Health (MOH), as it urged the public not to spread unsubstantiated claims that may cause public alarm.

On June 3, the ministry said it is aware of "two pieces of misinformation" currently being spread on social media.

The first has to do with a message claiming that Singapore was the first country to conduct an autopsy on a person who had tested positive for Covid-19, which it said was found to exist as a bacterium and not a virus.

The claim was first circulated in 2021, and re-emerged recently.

"This is false. As clarified by the ministry then, Singapore has not performed such an autopsy, and it is also not true that Covid-19 is caused by a bacterium," said MOH.

It also said social media posts alleging that Singapore had enacted laws to mandate vaccines and jail those unvaccinated after Microsoft founder Bill Gates visited the Republic in early May are not true.

The Straits Times found that such claims had been published in articles on two websites - Slay News and The People's Voice - which tout themselves as news sites.

Slay News describes itself as "unapologetically pro-America and pro-free speech", while The People's Voice says it covers "topics the mainstream media won't touch".

A search online shows that Slay News' website is registered in North Carolina, and a check of its address in Google Maps shows what looks to be a small farmhouse on a highway stretch.

The People's Voice, meanwhile, has its website registered in Arizona, although it has no listed company address.

Most of the articles published on both sites centre around right-wing ideology, conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine rhetoric, with fact-checking website Snopes labelling The People's Voice as a rebrand of disinformation-spreading site NewsPunch.

For accurate and up-to-date information, members of the public should visit the MOH website at moh.gov.sg instead.