“Hey, why not combine Covid *and flu* statistics together to make the Covid numbers look worse than they really are! This is not a joke. This is what Public Health England is doing.”
Julia Hartley-Brewer, 11 October 2020
Facebook posts, WhatsApp messages and YouTube videos are sharing a screenshot from Public Health England’s weekly Covid-19 surveillance report—claiming it shows plans to add influenza and coronavirus statistics together. Broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer also repeated the false claim.
The PHE screenshot says that from the October 8, “the information in this report will be published in a combined Weekly flu and COVID-19 Surveillance Report.” People have misinterpreted this as meaning the numbers will be combined.
In reality, all it means is the data will remain separate, but it will now be released in the same document.
Since we published our fact check, Ms Hartley-Brewer has deleted her tweet and corrected the record—but people are still sharing this false information in messages to friends and family.
Penny Lane
