Former TV chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans has again attacked New Zealand's response to the second wave of COVID-19 cases in the community, this time hitting out at Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
The ex-My Kitchen Rules star and now outspoken anti-vaxxer took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a video of Dr Bloomfield speaking at one of his daily briefings.
"Please listen and understand is being said. This is the NZ 'expert' who apparently makes the rules," Evans captioned the post.
"It seems like 2+2 = 5 over there, much like it does here at the moment. Can you imagine trusting him when he says that the shot is ready and we are so lucky that NZ is rolling it out first to all our good citizens?"
In the video, Dr Bloomfield makes no mention of a "shot" but instead outlines the Governmental response to treat probable COVID-19 cases in a similar manner to those confirmed.
The rise of misinformation on social media has been a serious concern during the pandemic and has been addressed by many officials, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"It's not new. Some of those conspiracy theories around COVID-19 'not being real' have existed from the very beginning of COVID-19's emergence globally. Some of them are perpetuated by offshore sources," Ardern told media last week.
"I've seen reports of people from overseas who have viewed COVID-19 as being fake, who have lost their lives to it. That's the evidence - the global situation is the evidence. This is very, very real, we need to take it seriously."
To date, there have been more than 22.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases internationally, resulting in nearly 785,000 deaths.
Dr Bloomfield graduated from the University of Auckland with a First Class Honours in medicine in 1997. His particular area of professional interest is non-communicable disease prevention and control.
Evans has no medical qualifications.
Despite this, he's reportedly selling his five-bedroom Sydney home to open a 'wellness clinic' called Evolve Health Labs in Byron Bay.
According to the Daily Mail, a large cryotherapy booth, otherwise known as an 'arctic chamber', has been spotted being installed inside the clinic in recent weeks.
The lifestyle precinct also reportedly contains a herbal medicine shop, a clothing boutique and a health food café.
Evans' new business will no doubt be aimed at locals influenced by his points of view, which he often shares on his social media pages. These have ramped up considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he has frequently called a "hoax".
Last week, Evans hit out at Ardern, telling his social media followers he thought Auckland's new alert level 3 lockdown was part of a sinister Government "agenda".
