[ad_1]
Warning: This story contains a discussion about suicide.
The Mental Health Foundation has criticized “irresponsible” claims on social media that there were 61 suicides last week due to the shutdown.
“I just heard from a police officer,” the person, whom Newshub has chosen not to name, posted on Twitter. “61 suicides in New Zealand last week. It’s hitting 6 a day. Where’s the media on this?”
While the math in the Twitter post didn’t add up, it was still shared and liked hundreds of times.
In the year through June 30, 2019, 685 people committed suicide, 17 more than the previous year. That’s less than two a day, about 13 a week.
“We are particularly disappointed that some politicians like Judith Collins have recklessly retweeted this rumor,” the Mental Health Foundation executive director Shaun Robinson told Newshub.
In a statement Sunday, the Mental Health Foundation said there was no evidence for the claim.
“There is absolutely no truth to this rumor,” says Robinson. “It is totally irresponsible and false.”
