A man has been arrested and charged with pretending to have coronavirus after claiming he tested positive on Facebook. Michael Lane Brandin turned himself into Tyler County Police after his post was reported multiple times to officers and and they launched an investigation.
The 23-year-old told police he had lied that he had the killer bug as part of a "social experiment" to show you should not believe everything you read online.
He was charged with false alarm and report and a bond of $1,000 (£870) was set. According to KJAS-TV, District Attorney Lucas Babin said that Brandin's actions could have caused mass panic and clog up phonelines at Woodville's Tyler County hospital.