CORONAVIRUS | Readers are advised to exercise caution against fake messages of a "lockdown" being circulated along with a Malaysiakini article on social media.

While the article titled: "Covid-19: Kita dalam fasa pembendungan akhir - Menteri kesihatan" (Covid-19: We are now in late containment stage - health minister) is real, it is being forwarded with an accompanying message that is erroneous. 

The message, shared with Malaysiakini's article, calls on people to purchase basic necessities as there would purportedly be a "lockdown" soon.

The government has, to date, not announced any such measure.

Malaysiakini's article also does not mention anything about a lockdown.

The Health Ministry, in a twitter posting, has also warned the public about the fake message.

"According to Malaysiakini, although the link is correct, the call for the rakyat to buy basic necessities as well as the ‘lockdown’ is fake," it said in a tweet, tagging both the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as well as the police.

Malaysiakini advises readers to read this news content at its portal and not rely on third-party sources which may have been modified.

According to the article, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba (photo) yesterday said Malaysia had entered the late containment stage of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We have the onset phase, the (early) containment phase, the late containment phase and finally the mitigation phase.

“Now, we have entered the late containment. Due to the 428 cases, we have entered the late containment stage and we need to take drastic action.”

The Covid-19 outbreak has significantly worsened following infections linked to a tabligh gathering at a mosque in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

Some 16,000 people attended the four-day gathering beginning Feb 27. An estimated 14,500 people in the gathering were Malaysians while 1,500 are foreigners.

Yesterday, a total of 190 new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia were reported, the highest single-day increase on record since the beginning of the outbreak in late January. 

Adham said the majority of the new 190 cases were traced to the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering.

Track Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia here.