Countries that are the most affected by the coronavirus are along the same latitude.
CLAIM, Multiple unverified images and messages have been circulated on social media amid the coronavirus outbreak. One such message which has been shared with an image of the globe claims that all the worst-affected COVID-19 cases are situated along Latitude 40 degrees., “Strange coincidence that all worst affected Covid19 cases are along the same Latitude 40ํ: From left: France Italy Iran Wuhan S.Korea Japan Seattle Washington NewYork,” the claim reads., TRUE OR FALSE?, Misleading., The Quint confirmed that the claim with which the message has been circulated is completely misleading. Reasons? There are two:, WHAT WE FOUND, A google key word search with ‘COVID-19 cases across the world’ directed us to the Coronavirus Resource Centre data on the website of Johns Hopkins University. The data suggests that as of 18 March, China (81,102) had the maximum number of confirmed cases followed by Italy, Iran, Spain and so on and so forth., The viral message mentions a few counties (France, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan and a few cities (Wuhan, Seattle, Washington and New York) clearly misses out Germany and Switzerland., Next, we looked up for the latitudinal coordinates of all of these places mentioned in the viral message. Here’s what we found:, This proves that coordinates of certain places go as far as 47 and 48° N, clearly implying that the generalisation in the message is misleading., "(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on Whatsapp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and well fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)", "Well get through this! Meanwhile, heres all you need to know about the Coronavirus outbreak to keep yourself safe, informed, and updated.", The Quint is now available on Telegram & WhatsApp too, Click here to join., Stay tuned with our weekly recap of what’s hot & cool by The Quint.
Fact check of Places Most Affected by COVID-19 Situated At Latitude 40°: Places Most Affected by COVID-19 Situated At Latitude 40°? No