{"id":252715,"date":"2020-03-11T12:44:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T07:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/?p=252715"},"modified":"2020-03-11T12:44:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T07:44:59","slug":"the-curious-case-of-243-coronavirus-patients-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/lens\/the-curious-case-of-243-coronavirus-patients-in-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curious Case of 243 Coronavirus Patients in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just recently, Geo News ran a news ticker that the number of Coronavirus cases in Pakistan have climbed to 243. That is not only a huge number, but also a fake news at that. A lot of people panicked and some asked why are their numbers way off? That’s the worse thing you can do on the verge of a global epidemic.<\/p>\n

As if the state of journalism in Pakistan hasn’t already given us enough reasons to facepalm, this blunder also has contributed to public distrust of news channels.<\/p>\n

The media giant ran a ticker listing the number of COVID-19 cases to have peaked to 243. That’s over four times the 62 cases reported in India, which has the world’s second-largest population.<\/p>\n

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ALSO READ<\/p>\n

Reema Advises Public To Take Precautions Against Corona-Virus<\/a><\/p>\n

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So what led to this?<\/p>\n

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Geo TV reports Coronavirus case in Pakistan to have climbed to 243<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clearly, this news was based on faulty intel. How did Geo TV get it wrong? They read it all wrong.<\/p>\n

The government is also responsible for this fiasco<\/h3>\n

It seems as though someone running the television tickers was quoting State Minister of Health of Pakistan, Zafar Mirza. More specifically, his tweet.<\/p>\n

Dr Mirza has a habit of numbering his tweets. That’s something all his followers know. So we knew what the real figure of Coronaviris cases was when he updated the count on Twitter.<\/p>\n

“All 19 cases have brought this (COVID-19) from abroad.”<\/p>\n

Lets take a look at his tweet:<\/p>\n

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243\/ Cases in Pakistan have more than doubled in last 24 hours. This is not surprising. Disease has spread in 106 countries. All 19 cases have brought this from abroad. All are stable. There is no evidence of local spread as yet. If we act responsibly we can avoid spread.<\/p>\n

— Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) March 10, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n