FALSE: Madagascar was not COVID-19 free by April 28
A Facebook post claiming that Madagascar was COVID-19 free on April 28 after registering 100% recovery for all confirmed cases is FALSE.
The post also claims that life has returned to normalcy in Madagascar and people were going about their business even though there is still some form of restrictions with business only allowed to operate until 1 pm and deliveries by catering establishments until 9 pm.
It also adds that on March 23rd the country had 9 confirmed coronavirus cases, and in one month precisely on April 25, they had 122 cases. However, the country’s Ministry of Public Health had announced 123 confirmed cases on April 25 having risen from 12 cases on March 23.
The post also claims that the country has not yet registered any COVID-19 death, attributing it to a herbal remedy dubbed Covid-Organics launched by President Andriy Rajoelina on April 21.
The tonic, developed by the Madagascan Institute for Applied Research (IMRA), is made from Artemisia and other plants and herbs from Madagascar, and is claimed to cure and prevent COVID-19.
While it is true that Madagascar had not reported any deaths as a result of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19-causing virus, when the post was published on April 28, there were 46 active cases at the time according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Madagascar Academy of Medicine have said that there is no scientific evidence that the herbal drink can cure or prevent COVID-19 and cautioned against its use.
The WHO insists that there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine against COVID-19 but possible curative and preventive medication is being tested through clinical trials.
PesaCheck has looked into the claim that Madagascar was COVID-19 free by April 28 and finds it to be FALSE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.