A shop that sells skincare products and crystals in Ontario, Canada, is facing heat on social media after sharing disinformation posts on social media calling coronavirus a “hoax.”
Yummy Mummy Emporium & Apothecary, owned by Amandha Vollmer, shared a post about coronavirus on March 15 on Facebook, just as panic about the global pandemic was setting in the U.S. and Canada.
“Due to the COVID19 pandemic hoax we are cancelling nothing,” the shop’s post said. “You can come over here with a fever & cough all you want. We know that germs don’t cause disease.”
The post referred to to the coronavirus threat as “government propaganda.”
On March 16, Canada closed its borders to most noncitizens in order to contain the spread of the disease in the country.
Vollmer’s posts received many shares and comments, most of them criticizing her for spreading disinformation amid the health crisis.
“Are you getting the attention you so desperately crave?” one person wrote. “I hope you enjoy while it lasts. I’d say you will be out of business soon.”
Ontario last week declared a state of emergency, forcing restaurants, bars public libraries, concert venues, and private schools to close until March 31. Large retailers have voluntarily closed their stores in Canada and the U.S.
On Sunday, Vollmer posted an update on Facebook, calling commenters who criticized her “brainwashed sheep.”
“What is dangerous are these people, obeying the very ones that line them up for slaughter,” she wrote.
She shared links to her YouTube page, which includes videos that dismiss the coronavirus—and other viruses like HIV and Ebola—as “fake.”
Vollmer’s video “COVID19 Same Scam Different Year” was posted on March 12 and has more than 10,000 views. The video starts with an om chant, which is used in Hinduism as a salutation to a Hindu god, and dismisses the coronavirus pandemic as a government conspiracy. Throughout the video, Vollmer advertises products on her website.
Vollmer did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comments.
Facebook and YouTube have both tried to crack down on the spread of misinformation by demonetizing coronavirus-related content.
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