CHINA / SOCIETY
Netizen detained in Wuhan for spreading rumors that a primary school student tested positive for COVID-19
Published: Sep 01, 2020 10:13 AM

A resident takes the nucleic acid test at a testing post set up at a primary school in Dongxihu District in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)



A Chinese netizen surnamed Xie was detained by the Wuhan local police as Xie posted rumors online suggesting that a primary student in the city tested positive for COVID-19, Wuhan local police said on its official Weibo account on Tuesday afternoon.

A local education authority in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, denied the online rumors via its authority's official Weibo account earlier.

The rumors were spread throughout several WeChat groups on Monday. However, the authority said the primary school student went into school's campus at around 8 am after returning normal temperature test results three times, the local authority wrote on Weibo. 

At 10 am, the student claimed  that he/she was not comfortable before being diagnosed with a fever after being checked. The school immediately adopted its emergency plan and sent the student with the parents to the hospital for further checks. Meanwhile, the student's immediate nucleic acid test results were negative.

The student was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and went home after taking medicine.

The authorities called for the public not to believe and spread rumors.