Social media posts shared thousands of times in Uganda and other African countries, have wildly claimed that that black people have a greater advantage of getting cured of the deadly Coronavirus or Covid 19. It is not true, according to different fact-checking institutions and the World Health Organisation.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that scientific evidence shows that no race or religion is immune to the disease that has killed more than 2800 people.
Several other fact-checking organisations such as Poynter Institute, an American-fact checking news organisation, and AFP, a global news wire organisation have also posted articles debunking claims that some people with black skin have some special protection.
“The same goes for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hinduists and those who believe in all other religions. They are equally protected — or unprotected — against the disease that has already killed more than 2,700 people,”
AFP identified some of the claims that circulated in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria suggesting that:
“OUR MELANIN IS OUR DEFENSE,” claims one post, shared more than 2,000 times since February 11 by a Facebook user in South Africa.
