By: Annie Priya
May 14 2020
Misleading: An elderly Chinese couple held hands in hospital after they were infected with the coronavirus.
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Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
A post by official Weibo account of the Chengdu Third People’s Hospital and an article by The Metro disproves the statement.
Claim ID 8b2960e2
A post by official Weibo account of the Chengdu Third People’s Hospital and an article by The Metro disproves the statement.A video that shows an elderly man and woman holding hands across parallel hospital beds has been shared on social media claiming that an aged Chinese couple was infected with the novel coronavirus. The same video was posted on official Weibo accounts of the Chengdu Third People’s Hospital, Xindu district stating that Mr Zhang and Ms Wen, aged 85 and 87, were hospitalised due to illness at the capital of Sichuan Province in South-Western China. On 30 January 2020, Mr Zhang reportedly told his children that he wanted to see his wife who was in ICU. Mr Zhang, who was receiving treatment in the department of respiratory medicine, heard that his sick spouse was suffering due to cancer and asked his children to see his wife for one last time. Therefore, the images of elderly Chinese couple suffering from health problems were not related to the novel coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.