Health Ministry removes coronavirus video after Chinese Embassy complaint
It opens with the character saying: “Hi, my name is COVID, 19, from the center of the country, originally from Wuhan in China. Made in China, but works well!"
By LAHAV HARKOVScreenshot of the video published by the Health Ministry.(photo credit: screenshot)
The Health Ministry has taken down a video promoting safety measures for the coronavirus pandemic following a complaint from the Chinese Embassy, the ministry confirmed on Thursday.The humorous video, posted in honor of Tu Be’av, features comedian Yossi Gavni playing a cupid-like character named COVID, like COVID-19, spreading coronavirus instead of spreading love.It opens with the character saying: “Hi, my name is COVID,19, from the center of the country, originally from Wuhan in China. Made in China, but works well!”The Chinese Embassy in Israel filed a complaint with the Foreign Ministry. The video saying COVID-19 is made in China “is egregious and unfounded,” the embassy told The Jerusalem Post.“It is a scientific consensus that COVID-19 originated from nature and is not man-made,” the embassy’s spokesman said. “China firmly opposes any remarks that exploit the issue of the origin of the virus for stigmatization.”A Health Ministry spokesman said it removed the video from its website and Facebook page following a request from the Foreign Ministry.However, the video has already been shared widely on social media and can still be found online.The Chinese Embassy’s complaint comes as Beijing has shown sensitivity to being blamed for the spread of COVID-19 amid evidence that the country’s leadership tried to hide information about the virus as the outbreak began.Earlier this year, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed the US Army brought COVID-19 to China. It later backpedaled on the claim.
