Xu Hao, a lawyer from the Jingsh Law Firm in Beijing, said that according to Chinese law, anyone found spreading false rumors with the intention of creating panic will be strictly punished.

"But if we find that some conclusions have been drawn by professionals based on their current studies, such as those on medical science, we should be prudent in determining if they are true or false, because our understanding of new developments is always changing," he said.

Strong reaction

The mass enthusiasm for and purchases of Shuanghuanglian Oral Liquid, a relatively cheap Chinese patented drug often used to treat colds, highlights just how strongly the public has reacted to the outbreak.

On Jan 31, the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which are responsible to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an online statement that the drug suppresses growth of the virus, adding that these early-stage findings will require more clinical trials before they can be confirmed. They did not state whether the drug could be used to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia.

But that evening, rumors spread rapidly online stating that the drug could not only cure the disease, but also prevent people from becoming infected with the virus. Photos of people lining up at pharmacies during the night to buy the drug went viral on social media.

Experts were quick to advise against irrational purchases and consumption of the herbal medicine, explaining that the findings were only at an early stage and that it was totally unnecessary for those who were not infected to take this drug.