Residents line up to take nucleic acid test at a community in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province, on January 7, 2021. Photo: VCG

A man in Xiayi county, Central China's Henan Province, has been detained by police for fabricating and spreading rumors that he tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in a wave of panic among local residents. It turned out that the man had revised his own negative result as "he wanted to dodge a drinking event."

A villager in Xiayi county, surnamed Jin, received a nucleic acid test at the local center for disease control a few days ago, and returned a negative result. 

The next day, Jin was invited to drinks by some friends. Unwilling to attend the event, he came up with a "brilliant" idea - using a Photoshop-like app to change his negative COVID-19 result into a positive one. 

He then posted the fake result on a WeChat group of 20 people, which soon spread online. 

Jin has been detained for five days for violating epidemic prevention and control rules.

Global Times