This photo shows bodies of COVID-19 victims.
Screenshot of the Facebook post., A Google reverse image search shows that the photo was published by the Associated Press (AP), a US-based news agency, on December 30, 2004 showing the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand., The photo shows victims of the tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, which resulted in over 225,000 fatalities across South and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and the Maldives., The post was published in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a number of lockdowns and movement restrictions across the world. As of April 27, 2020, Johns Hopkins University reported at least 206,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 2.9 million confirmed cases globally., PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook post with a photo claiming to show dead bodies of COVID-19 victims and finds it to be FALSE., 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 PesaCheck Fact-Checker James Okong’o and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki., The article 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 photo does not show bodies of COVID-19 victims