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By Jun Ji-hye
Police and ambulance services here have received an increasing number of prank calls from people making false reports of new coronavirus infections, officials said Wednesday, warning that those who interrupt the work of the emergency services are subject to legal punishment.
A man in his 20s who lives in Gwangju made a 119 emergency call, Jan. 29, claiming he had been sick with pneumonia since he returned home from China.
The call was made amid mounting fears here over the spread of the virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which can cause pneumonia.
The 119 situation room directed him to a nearby hospital but when quarantine officials checked with the facility, they found no record of his visit.
Police officials, who traced his immigration records, later found out that he had not visited China around that time.
On Feb. 2, a man in his 20s was picked up by police at a restaurant in Seoul after causing a massive disturbance there. After being taken to a police station, he suddenly started coughing, claiming he may have been infected with the coronavirus.
Officials from the 119 emergency center rushed to the police station and took his temperature, but he showed no symptoms associated with the virus.
Officials said prank phone calls made to emergency services disrupt their normal activities, especially when they are on high alert to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“Prank calls are making it more difficult to help people who are really in need of emergency services,” a police officer said. “Prank callers can be punished by the Minor Offenses Law, and the government can file a claim for damages.”
Police officers added that the man in Gwangju has already been booked without physical detention for violating the Minor Offenses Law.
“Making false reports involving the new coronavirus could result in large disruption to the government's ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, which could lead to harsher punishment,” another police official said.
Besides prank calls, police also warned of the spread of fake news related to the health crisis.
South Gyeongsang Province Police Agency said Tuesday that it caught a 27-year-old man who was spreading fake news through the nation's most popular messenger app Kakao Talk.
He spread messages claiming a possible case of coronavirus infection occurred in Changwon. The messages also included personal information of a person who the man claimed had been infected with the virus.
A number of telephone inquiries were made to public health centers in the region, but the messages turned out to be false, according to officials.