The Health Protection Agency (HPA) on Sunday put their foot down on sharing photographs and personal details of COVID-19 patients.
During the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC)'s daily press briefing, HPA's epidemiologist Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said it is regrettable that pictures of patients are being shared on social media platforms, and noted that sometimes, patients are misidentified by the public, and pictures of people who are not patients are also shared. Dr. Nazla warned strict action against those who share such pictures, and said the authority will involve the police to handle such matters.
Dr. Nazla said the HPA has to follow strict guidelines on protecting the identity of patients, and said the identities of patients may only be revealed by the authority under special circumstances as outlined in guidelines established under the Public Health Act. Such information can only be revealed by the Director General of Public Health, said Dr. Nazla.
"Tomorrow, it may be your picture being shared saying you are infected. Is this something you would wish to happen? If not, why would you want to treat other people this way?," Dr. Nazla questioned.
Dr. Nazla also expressed concern that the information given by official authorities during press briefings were being misinterpreted and twisted by some media and on social media. She condemned and advised against such actions.
