'Fear' driving spread of misinformation about Covid-19 in Aotearoa's Pacific communities

An Auckland Pacific leader says misinformation about Covid-19 is widespread and driven by fear.

Two new coronavirus cases announced yesterday were linked to the outbreak which started in Auckland last month, both of which were connected to the Mount Roskill Evangelical Fellowship church.

As the church sub-cluster continues to grow, Health Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday said the deliberate spreading of false information about Covid-19 was threatening to block a move down alert levels.

Church leaders are now encouraging all members to be re-tested for the virus by the end of today.

This morning, though, Pacific Island Forum Leader Pakilau Manase Lua told TVNZ1's Breakfast misinformation was coming from overseas church groups, especially from the US.

"A lot of these churches [such as the Mt Roskill church] have roots in America, they have very closed, almost insular congregations. There's a belief that they are the truths, almost a certainty that what they hear in their networks is the truth and nothing but the truth.

"The danger of that, of course, is that it doesn't put not just themselves in danger but when they don't get tested and they finally do get the virus it's a danger for everybody."

Lua said the misinformation was widespread in New Zealand's Pacific communities now.

"I think a lot of it is because of fear, I mean the virus has hit our communities more than the first lockdown so it's quite widespread," he said.

"A lot of it is being sent through church networks from overseas so the fear is probably what's spreading it in our communities."

Lua said one "dangerous" example of misinformation he'd come across was that chips were being injected into people through Covid-19 vaccinations.

"People are not sure what's the truth," he said.

"We believe in everyone's right to receive information and to hold that information and make their own decisions, what we don't condone is spreading it."

However, he also said people spreading inaccurate information may not understand the content, especially if English was a second language.

"Ministry of Health have a sponsored data site, how about sponsoring the data of Māori and Pacific websites? So that's another thing you could do, make sure the information is accessible for our communities."

Researcher and communications expert Jess Berentson-Shaw, also on Breakfast this morning, said not repeating false information in order to debunk it was important too, as well as repetitions and good explanations of correct information.

However, she said false information had always been around and it's not growing at the moment, people are just more aware of it.

"False information is always present in our communities, it flares up at times of panic and fear and that's pretty normal, we see that across history," she said.

"The nature of that false information is obviously a problem and during a pandemic the implications of it are more serious."

Berentson-Shaw said false information wasn't always spread by ill-intent though, and agreed fear and concerns for loved ones were reasons.