A Pakistani news channel on Tuesday ran the news of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's death due to coronavirus infection, citing a fake BBC account on Twitter with just a handful of followers. Dawn News TV and 92 News ran the breaking news that Johnson, who is battling the coronavirus in ICU after his symptoms worsened, has passed away. After realising that they have fallen for the fake news tweeted from a fake BBC World handle in the race of breaking news, both the channels took the report down.
The stupidity of the Pakistani media was called out on Twitter as they didn't bother to verify the news of UK PM's death in such a sensitive situation. "Grave misreporting by @Dawn_News TV which falsely reported that UK PM Boris Johnson has died. HE IS ALIVE. In the ICU and under care," tweeted a Pakistani journalist.
Dawn News TV aired a breaking news today that British Prime Minister #BorisJohnson passed away due to #Covid_19. They even quoted a fake BBC World account from Twitter which had hardly a few hundred followers. Smoking some next level shit. pic.twitter.com/J0BopcINB7
— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) April 7, 2020
Boris Johnson is currently admitted to the ICU ward of St Thomas' Hospital in London for the treatment of coronavirus. A spokesperson of the UK PM Tuesday said that his condition was "stable" and he remained in "good spirit".
Johnson a 'fighter', will recover from illness: Dominic Raab
According to the Dawning Street coronavirus briefing, Johnson has been receiving oxygen treatment but he was breathing without any assistance from a ventilator or non-invasive respiratory support. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is looking after the affairs of UK PM in his absence, said that he was confident Johnson would recover from the coronavirus.
"All of our thoughts and prayers are with the prime minister at this time, with Carrie, and with his whole family. And I'm confident he'll pull through, because if there's one thing I know about this prime minister, he's a fighter. And he'll be back at the helm, leading us through this crisis in short order," Raab said.
However, there have been concerns surrounding the prime minister's health in the absence of updates about his health from the hospital or authorities. "It's now 11.38am. If Boris Johnson had had a good night in hospital & his situation was stable we'd surely have been told by now. The fact that we've heard nothing since yesterday indicates that the news, when it does get released, isn't good," Tweeted journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark.
