Did Singapore ‘Discover’ That COVID-19 Is Caused By Bacteria? Old Hoax Resurfaces Amid Spike In COVID Cases

Amid a renewed spike in COVID-19 cases across India, a message claiming that the Singaporean authorities came to a startling revelation about the nature of the disease has gone viral online. The viral message claims that authorities in Singapore conducted an autopsy on a COVID-19 victim, and “after a thorough investigation discovered” it to be “existing as a bacteria which is exposed to radiation” and not virus. The message further alleged that the Singapore Health Ministry “changed the treatment protocol” after the purported finding. 

Newschecker received the claim on our WhatsApp tipline (+9-9999499044) requesting to be fact checked. 

COVID Cases Go Up Again

According to the Health ministry data, (full dataset on Dataful here) between 4th May 2020 and 6th June 2024, India recorded a total of 4,50,40,074 COVID-19 cases, and 5,33,619 COVID deaths. The number of active cases peaked in early 2022 before declining sharply to just over two hundred by June 2024. After this lull, COVID cases have now seen an uptick again. As of Monday (May 26, 2025) India has a total of 1,009 active COVID-19 cases across the country, a sharp spike from last week (May 19) when the tally stood at 257. Dr Rajiv Behl, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said, “As of now, the severity is generally low. There’s nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared.”

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Fact Check/Verification

A keyword search for “Singapore,” “COVID-19”, “autopsy” and “bacteria” on Google did not yield any credible reports stating that the country has made any such major discovery regarding the nature of the pathogen that causes COVID-19. 

We, however, found multiple reports by Singapore-based outlets, such as this, this and this, from 2021 reporting on the Health Ministry’s clarification that the claim of COVID-19 being a bacterial disease is fabricated. 

Debunking the viral claim, the Ministry of Health, Singapore said in a Facebook post, dated June 7, 2021, “We are aware of a message circulating that Singapore has performed an autopsy on a COVID-19 patient, and alleged changes in treatment protocols. The content was attributed to the Ministry of Health, Singapore. This is NOT true. “ 

“Singapore has not performed such an autopsy. The message states false information concerning the pathophysiology of COVID-19 infection, which is not borne out by current evidence. An earlier version of this circulating message, which mentioned Russia instead of Singapore, has also been exposed as untrue,” it added. 

The World Health Organisation has also clarified that COVID-19 is caused by a virus, and not any bacteria. “The virus that causes COVID-19 is in a family of viruses called Coronaviridae. Antibiotics do not work against viruses.Some people who become ill with COVID-19 can also develop a bacterial infection as a complication. In this case, antibiotics may be recommended by a health care provider,” the global body stated. 

Multiple other health organisations/hospitals such as this, this and this have stated that COVID-19 is a viral disease caused by ‘SARS-CoV-2’, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.  We did not find any credible results/scientific findings stating that COVID-19 is a bacteria, and not a viral disease.

Further, we also found the WHO guidelines for performing autopsies on deceased infected with COVID-19, thereby confirming that the health body has not restricted the same. 

Notably, the fabricated claim has been in circulation since 2021, and was debunked by Newschecker in Marathi and Gujarati. The same false claim was earlier attributed to the Russian authorities as well.

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Conclusion

Hence, we find the viral message claiming that Singapore performed an autopsy on a deceased with COVID-19, and found it to be a bacterial disease is false. The Singapore Health Ministry has clarified that they did not perform any such autopsy. 

Sources
Facebook Post By Ministry of Health, Singapore , Dated June 7, 2021
WHO Website
Dataful By Factly