Interviewed this Friday by a local Catholic radio station, several residents claimed that they started receiving messages around 3:00 am about the spread of "toxic wind" associated with Covid-19.
"It really happened, it was around 5 am, when I heard the neighbors shouting for everyone to wake up for fear of being hit by the wind while sleeping", he told radio Guilherme Kuhahamica.
Rebeca Victor also "woke up in a panic" after being contacted by family members, with recommendations that she "had to be awake" under pain of being "affected by the toxic wind while sleeping".
The fear scenario of the residents of the neighborhoods around Luena was also described by Caetano Luís, referring that "many people woke up waiting for the contaminated wind".
For his part, the head of the Moxico Public Health department, Baldé Bernabé, asked the population to calm down, saying that the "false information" originated in the neighboring Republic of Zambia.
"This is a rumor that is taking place in the Republic of Zambia. They are just rumors that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. What machine is this that will produce a toxic wind? It is a myth and the population should be calm", he said. statements to the Catholic broadcaster.
