The April Fools’ tradition, which in recent years regaled us with news that pastizzi were being banned by Brussels and that old buses were returning to Maltese roads, is the latest COVID-19 casualty.

Up until 2019, the April 1 tradition saw families, web users and corporations embrace practical jokes, but we are now living in surreal times where a prank is sometimes more believable than reality.

Several governments have even warned against virus-themed jokes - some even threatening jail.

Most local news outlets, including Times of Malta, decided against pranking their readers this year.

“Things which seemed impossible just a few weeks ago are now part of daily life – truth really is seeming stranger than fiction. With that in mind, we were concerned that playing an April Fool's joke would just end up encouraging the spread of misinformation, as many more readers might have believed it than in any other year,” online editor Bertrand Borg said.

Borg added that many readers were living with a sense of trepidation and uncertainty, and the last thing the media organisation wanted to do was make the situation worse for them. 

“This is not the time to mislead people, even lightheartedly,” he said.

The Malta Independent also admitted it was not the right time to fool around, as the newspaper did not want to add a fake story to the many making the rounds on social media.

Photo: Malta Today

On the other hand, Malta Today’s readers woke up to news that with schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children aged seven to 14 could be graded according to their achievements on video games.

Not many fell for it, but parents had their own prank up their sleeves.

A breaking news image complete with Times of Malta’s URL, showing Health Minister Chris Fearne announcing the reopening of schools, started doing the rounds on Tuesday night.

The news is not true: schools will remain closed until at least the end of this scholastic year, Education Minister Owen Bonnici said on Saturday. 

Photo: Facebook

Other COVID-19 related ‘news’ on social media warned that former prime minister Joseph Muscat and Prime Minister Robert Abela had tested positive for the virus.

With the whole world under assault from the deadly virus, it is difficult to come across non-COVID-19 material on social media.

However, the Attard Residents Environment Network managed to steer clear of the pandemic. 

According to a joke post uploaded by the residents' group, a rubble wall being built alongside the Central Link road project is made up of jigsaw puzzle-like pieces of concrete and stone slabs.