An article claims that a Kenyan died from COVID-19 on 3/20/20.
The claim, which has also been published on Facebook and Kenya Today adds that medics at Kenyatta National Hospital confirmed the death., A representative from the Ministry of Health confirmed that no COVID-19 death has been recorded in the country to date, and all updates are communicated by the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, as well as on the ministry’s official social media accounts., Kenyatta National Hospital Communication Director Hezekiah Gikambi also dismissed the claim and added there is no doctor by the name Patricia Mulokozi in the hospital., There was no mention of a death from COVID-19 In a situation update by CS Mutahi on March 19, the day the article was published. The CS said that the ministry had screened over 600,000 people, and tested 173 people, with 7 of these testing positive., PesaCheck has looked into an article claiming that the first patient confirmed with COVID-19 in Kenya has died and finds this to be FALSE., Kenya recorded its first COVID-19 death on March 26, 2020., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by Fact-Checker Linda Ngari. It was edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Ann Ngengere and was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organisations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE: This article claiming that a Kenyan has died from COVID-19 is a hoax