Fake coronavirus audio message claims ambulances won’t be sent out from tomorrow & 1/3 of deaths will be babies & kids

The bogus message, which also claimed a third of deaths would be among children, was widely shared online before Public Health England responded to confirm it is false.

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The audio also suggested that from Thursday to Tuesday ambulances will not go for call outs even if people are struggling to breathe and they will be left to die at home.

The note also claimed that every mortuary in the UK is full and that bodies are being sent to ice skating rinks instead.

Professor Viv Bennett, Chief Nurse at Public Health England, confirmed the voice note and the message within it are false.

A statement on Twitter 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 PHE.

Kent, Surrey and Sussex Ambulance Service have also tweeted saying the audio message is fake.

They wrote:" 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.

"In line with our ongoing plans during this challenging time, we are continuing to follow national guidelines regarding the ambulance response and thank the public for their ongoing support in following the government’s advice."

The North West Ambulance Service has also tweeted a similar message urging people not to share the message further.

It is unclear how many times the audio message has been forwarded as WhatsApp is trying to stop the spread of hoax messages by imposing text-forwarding limits.

Many users are sharing bizarre conspiracy theories – including one widely-debunked claim that 5G caused coronavirus.

Now if a message has been forwarded on five times when it reaches you, you'll only be able to pass that message on to one other chat.

You'll be able to see double-arrows next to messages that have been forwarded on many times.

It's a bid to reduce "virality" of hoax messages, according to WhatsApp.