Hoax figures circulate in online posts about South Korea's reported coronavirus cases
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 20, 2020 at 12:01
- 1 min read
- By Richard KANG, AFP South Korea
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The claim was published in the below Facebook post on November 19, 2020.
Part of the Korean-language post translates to English as:
“Covid-19 Update (As of 22:00, 18 November) - Number of domestic infections: 613.
“Covid-19 Update (As of 21:00, 18 November) - Number of domestic infections: 582.
“Covid-19 Update (As of 20:00, 18 November) - Number of domestic infections: 432.
“Covid-19 Update (As of 18:00, 18 November) - Number of domestic infections: 412.”
Similar claims were also shared on various posts on Facebook and Naver blog.
The claim, however, is false.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), South Korea reported a total 343 new cases of Covid-19 to midnight November 19, 2020, 293 of which were domestic infections.
Screenshot of KDCA website, captured on November 19, 2020
South Korea’s KDCA provides the official statistics for the country’s coronavirus case numbers once daily on its website here. It does not provide hourly updates.
South Korean police have since warned it will take “stern action” against misinformation about Covid-19, including false claims about case numbers.
AFP has redacted links to the misleading posts in this report for legal reasons.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
