Health chiefs are urging the public to ignore a WhatsApp voice message which makes a number of alarmist claims about the coronavirus pandemic.

The message, from an unknown woman, has been dismissed by Public Health England (PHE) as ‘fake news’.

It tells listeners that from Thursday ambulances will no longer be sent to those struggling to breathe with patients expected to manage their symptoms at home, and claims to have come from PHE.

But both PHE and the South East Coast Ambulance Service, which is mentioned in the note, have refuted the claims made in the fake recording.

Chief nurse at PHE Professor Viv Bennett said: ‘We are aware of a voice message circulating about the ambulance response to coronavirus, as well as restrictions on movement and predicted case numbers, which claims to have come from the PHE.

‘This is fake news, and we would urge people to ignore the message and not share it further.’

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South East Coast Ambulance tweeted: ‘We are aware of a voice message being shared currently on social media regarding the ambulance response to coronavirus.

‘The alarmist information being shared in the message is not correct. We would urge people to disregard the message and not share it further.’

WhatsApp voice messages have become a source of disinformation throughout the pandemic, with nearly half of UK adults exposed to false or misleading information about coronavirus online in the last week alone.

In an effort to slow the spread of conspiracy theories and fake news, WhatsApp has introduced new strict limits on message forwarding.

Now, when users receive a message that has already been frequently forwarded, they will only be able to forward it to one chat at a time.

Previously, such messages could be forwarded to five different chats at once.

Other harmful false claims being circulated include those claiming to have found cures for the virus and others linking the outbreak to 5G technology.

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