Fact Check: Did Italy actually set up roadside ICUs to treat Coronavirus patients?

Claim: Roadside ICUs set up in Italy to treat coronavirus patients

What is the rumour about?

According to the rumour, hospitals had set up many ICUs on the streets to accommodate more patients in Italy. It says that the hospitals do not have enough beds to treat patients in Italy.

Italy currently has 110,574 positive COVID-19 cases and over 13000 deaths since its first case around February 15, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Facebook 

Who started the rumour?

Many posts were found circulating on Facebook and Twitter stating that the streets were filled with patients due to COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Check out the WhatsApp message that is being forwarded all over the world. 

Image courtesy: WhatsApp

Google Trends 

After an analysis of the Google Trends with respect to the roadside ICUs in Italy topic, one can see that people have been hugely interested to know about the same topic. The maximum number of searches have been done on March 31, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Rating: False

Republic World did a fact check on the "roadside ICUs in Italy" rumour

• Republic World did a fact check on the "Roadside ICUs in Italy" rumour and found it to be False.
• After performing the reverse image search it was found that all the pics were from Croatia after an earthquake caused panic all over the country. 
• While the city of Zagreb was under a partial lockdown due to Coronavirus outbreak, the city saw an earthquake of 5.3 magnitude and led to the evacuation of hospitals. One can see many people wearing masks in the pictures as well. 
• The actual photos are taken from various sources, the image below was taken from a Facebook post shared on March 23 stating the plight of the people in Croatia after the earthquake struck in Croatia's capital Zagreb on March 22, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Facebook

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• This below photo was shared by a journalist via Twitter stating that due to the earthquake in Croatia, the hospitals are facing more pressure as they were already under pressure due to the partial lockdown in the capital city. 

Image courtesy: Twitter

The below image shows incubators for new babies being carried outside the hospital after the earthquake struck Zagreb. The image was taken from this Twitter video. 

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The below pic was taken from a Twitter post mentioning the plight of the mothers who can be seen carrying their newborns on the street in Zagreb, Croatia. after a hospital was evacuated due to the earthquake.

Image courtesy: Twitter

Is there any rumour you want Republic World to do a fact check on? Do you have facts about a rumour? Share your pictures or videos with Republic World on contact@republicworld.com or comment on this story itself. 

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