This morning, I'm sure most of you have received a message from your friends and family about KL Sentral being quarantined due to COVID-19 virus. The news spread fast on WhatsApp and Twitter and apparently, news has it that the authorities are shutting down the north and east side of KL Sentral area. But that is not really true and here's what we found out.
Apparently, there was an image by Khazanah Nasional Berhad (2 March 2020) stating that the Mercu UEM building around KL Sentral got vacated, it was for a cleaning operation when they learned that one of the staff members has been infected. However, it turns out not to be entirely true especially the part about the north and east side of KL Sentral area shutting down. [Updated] Initially, there was a Bernama tweet saying it was fake news but it has been taken down since after lunch hour. PwC's marketing and communications team has also reached out to us and gave an official statement about the incident.
The official statement by PwC Malaysia
The message that was floating around WhatsApp and Twitter
So in other words, it's just business as usual for KL Sentral. All LRT, MRT and Monorail trains are still running normally on schedule as confirmed by @MyRapidKL. In addition, nobody has been tested positive for the infection but some of the offices have told their employees to work from home. While I understand that it's better to be safe than sorry, but it's not cool to create panic with unconfirmed news and spreading false information across. Also, do continue to look after your hygiene by regularly washing your hands.
Please also remember that anyone can get fined up to RM100K, jailed or both for reporting fake news. Stay tuned for more local news at TechNave.com.
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