Many of you may have received texts messages or found posts on social media asking you to stay away from ice cream during coronavirus times, but you don’t really need to pay heed to that as all those circulated were fake.
Recently, posts and photographs circulated in social media claiming that United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has made a series of recommendations, including staying away from ice cream, during the coronavirus pandemic. However, those posts were not issued by the UNICEF at all.
“It is, unfortunately, yet another example of the kind of misinformation we’ve seen circulate on social media around the world. Misinformation during times of a health crisis can result in people being left unprotected or more vulnerable to the virus,” reports Reuters quoting a UNICEF statement.
On March 6, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships Charlotte Petri Gornitzka said in a statement that misinformation during times of a health crisis can spread paranoia, fear, and stigmatization. It can also result in people being left unprotected or more vulnerable to the virus.
“For example, a recent erroneous online message circulating in several languages around the world and purporting to be a UNICEF communication appears to indicate, among other things, that avoiding ice cream and other cold foods can help prevent the onset of the disease. This is, of course, wholly untrue,” she said on the day.
She urged people not to share inaccurate information and take accurate information from verified sources, such as UNICEF or WHO, government health officials and trusted healthcare professionals.
Industry insiders says ice cream, which is a seasonal business, was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic because of ongoing shutdown.
March to October of a year is peak time for ice cream business and high temperature this year was also very supportive making it right time for consumption for ice cream, they said.
But factories remain closed, so do many stores across Bangladesh, because of shutdown hitting the business hard, they added.
