Fact check: Did an Italian doctor couple die of coronavirus?

A lot of fake news and misinformation has been circulating on the Internet since the past few days. A few days ago, the viral news of an Italian doctor couple who died after treating people from coronavirus started circulating. Within three days, the rumour started to gain many views on the internet. Check the fact check report done by the Republic TV team. 

CLAIM:

An Italian doctor couple died of coronavirus 

RATING:

False

Image source: Twitter

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"Doctor couple died of coronavirus rumour" was initiated by?

• The rumour was initiated by message forwards through social media.
• The forwards talk about this doctor couple who treated at least 134 coronavirus patients and ultimately succumbed to death due to getting infected themselves. 
• People are seen forwarding this message saying that they are an Italian couple who died due to COVID-19 infection themselves while they were treating others. Check out the image. 

Image courtesy: Emilio Morenatti / AP

Republic TV did a fact check about Italian doctor couple rumour

The statement is false according to the fact check performed by the Republic TV team.

• There was an article which was apparently published in Patrika website on March 24.
• A similar article screenshot was being circulated that said Jansandesh Times as their source. However, there is no information on whether Jansandesh Times actually printed the article. 
• Many people on Twitter and Facebook started sharing these messages between the dates of March 22 and March 26, 2020, which caused the rumour to completely explode on social media. 
• However, the actual picture that is being shared is not of an Italian doctor couple, but a picture clicked by photographer Emilio Morenatti for AP (Associated Press) at Spain's Barcelona Airport. The photographer had clicked a pic of a couple kissing at the Barcelona airport when US President Donald Trump announced some restrictive rules about foreign travels from Europe. 

This is the actual photo taken by the photographer Emilio Morenatti for AP.

Google trends analysis of the doctor couple died rumour

Check out the Google trend analysis of the "Italian doctor couple died of corona rumour" that shows how widespread the rumour is and why people want to know the truth about it. 

This Google trend shows that the rumour started getting hugely searched in India on March 22, 2020, and gained the maximum searches on March 24, 2020. The rumour was searched in a lot of amount in India, followed by other regions. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends

Image courtesy: Google Trends (Note: The number showed in this data are by percentile)

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Between March 22 and March 24, social media saw many shares from Facebook users, Instagram users and WhatsApp users as well. This may lead to the fact that these social media users played an important role in spreading this rumour all over the country. Take a look at these screenshots from Facebook and the amount of time these were shared. 

Image courtesy: Facebook 

Image courtesy: Facebook 

Image courtesy: Facebook

Image courtesy: Facebook

There have been many rumours like these, including the "Russia left 800 lions on the streets to ensure that no person steps out" or the "Covid-19 medicine found rumour". Republic TV did a fact check on the recent rumours. Take a look at what we found: 

ALSO READ| No, Russia Did Not Unleash Lions On The Street To Keep People In Lockdown

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Is there any rumour you want Republic TV to conduct a fact check on? Do you have facts about a rumour? Share your pictures or videos with Republic TV on contact@republicworld.com.