Fact check: Is China seeking approval to kill coronavirus patients to stop outbreak?

An article recently claimed that China has sought approval from the "highest level of court" for killing coronavirus patients to control the spread of the deadly virus. The article also claimed that the court is "expected" to give approval to the government.

Fortunately, the article is fake and the website called "AB-TC" and "City News" has a history of publishing fake news. Lastly, Devdiscourse couldn't find any such report filed by any credible news outlet.

Most recently, the same website reported that five Singaporeans have contracted the Wuhan coronavirus without going to China. That report also turned out to be false and the government of Singapore had released a statement debunking falsehoods being spread by the website.

The statement by the Singapore government:

"There was a false statement contained in a web article on the Wuhan virus situation in Singapore.

Falsehoods

On 30 Jan 2020, a website called ‘City News’ published an article titled “BREAKING NEWS: Singapore records six more coronavirus case, total of 16 now” (https://ab-tc.com/singapore-coronavirus-cases/) claiming that five Singaporeans have contracted the Wuhan coronavirus without going to China.

As of 9pm on 30 Jan 2020, there is no local transmission of the Wuhan virus in Singapore. All confirmed cases in Singapore to date are Chinese nationals who travelled from Wuhan.

Additional Clarifications

We advise members of the public to not speculate and/or spread unfounded rumors. Please visit www.moh.gov.sg for updates on the Wuhan virus situation."

Stricter laws

Deluged by misinformation and fake news about the new coronavirus, Asian countries have stepped up scrutiny on mischievous social media posts and blogs trying to spread misinformation. 

Readers are encouraged to not promote such fake news and not share any unverified information.

At least 16 people have been arrested over coronavirus posts in Malaysia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, while Singapore has used its new "fake news" law, POFMA, to force media outlets like "AB-TC City News" and social media users to carry government warnings on their posts and articles saying they contain falsehoods.