A screenshot purportedly showing the real death toll of the coronavirus in China — putting it over 80 times higher than the official number — has gone viral.
A screenshot purportedly showing the real death toll of the coronavirus in China — putting it over 80 times higher than the official number — has gone viral.
However, such screenshots, taken from the social media site QQ, are easily fakeable by anyone using a standard web browser. And, a public health official says, such high numbers at this point are likely a hoax.
Rumours have been swirling online that the Chinese government is hiding the actual extent of the coronavirus outbreak, which took root there and is now spreading worldwide.
QQ is an instant messenger, owned by the Chinese media company Tencent, that includes a news page. It counts around 900 million active users and has an “epidemic situation tracker” that reports real-time data of known coronavirus cases and deaths across China from over 170 sources, according to Tencent.
On Sunday, a screenshot of the tracker began spreading on Chinese social media. It was said to have captured the accidental release of the “real death toll” — 24,589, far above the roughly 300 then recognized by the Chinese government.
Likely a hoax
According to Dr. David Fisman, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto and an infectious disease expert at Toronto Western Hospital, those numbers don’t reflect what he and his colleagues are tracking.
“We know enough about this that we can basically call B.S. on some scenarios,” he said.
Because people outside of China are also getting sick, Fisman says public health officials can track how the virus spreads, independently of numbers released by China.
Fisman and epidemiologist Ashleigh R. Tuite modelled its spread and published their research in the journal An