Over the past few days, social networking sites and activists in Jordan have fueled discontent towards some of the persons infected with the novel coronavirus, despite the continuous official warnings about revealing the personal data and spreading rumors about the patients.
While the virus has been relatively contained since the first case was confirmed on March 2, gossips about reported infections exceeded all ethical limits and in some cases patients were defamed, their personal information shared and fake accounts were spread about them.
The case of a pharmacist, who has purportedly returned to work before completing his quarantine period, sparked many rumors and lies, especially after the death of his father because of coronavirus.
The pharmacist’s brother, Uday, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the whole family was defamed and bullied.
The government’s dealing with the case seemed to have caused confusion. The father’s death - which occurred two days before the first official corona-related death was announced on March 28 - was not declared to be linked to the virus.
This has prompted some activists to publish the full family names and hold them responsible for the error, even though the pharmacist was asked to return to his work, before the issuance of the results of his laboratory tests, as Uday recounts.
Some Jordanians were quick to launch a torrent of jokes and sarcastic comments on social media platforms, against the family of the deceased, leaving the family members emotionally drained.
Meanwhile, a number of patients in Jordanian hospitals said they were bullied by medical staff, who accused them of transmitting the infection to others, based on fabricated reports on social media.
