Published 15:17 IST, April 9th 2020
Fact Check: Did the Texas woman who passed away due to Coronavirus, call it a hoax?
Fact Check: A post is making rounds on social media that a Texas woman claimed COVID-19 was a hoax but tragically passed away due to the same.
While the coronavirus pandemic has gripped the population at large around the world, there has been news regarding some people not believing in the concept of COVID-19. One such famous story that has been doing rounds on social media is the story of a Texas woman, who sadly lost her life due to coronavirus. Social media claims that the patient had made shared a Facebook post about how COVID-19 is a hoax and that the real reason behind all of this is the people who are trying to bring down the government.
Claim:
As per social media sources, a Texas woman, who passed away after extracting coronavirus, had shared a post that called it a 'hoax' and a way of biological warfare in bringing down the government. After she was tested positive with coronavirus, the patient's family had started a GoFundMe page, asking people to donate for her treatment. Later, an obituary was posted on the page that she passed away on April 2, 2020. Here is a tweet related to this issue:
While the tweet has the picture of the GoFundMe page, it is not an updated picture. The donations for the Sehlke family has now reached $35,090. The obituary now shared on the GoFundMe page claims that the donations will go towards the health and medical expenses of her two sons, Austin and Blake.
Rating: True
The patient had shared a post on March 14 on how the coronavirus is an impeachment hoax against the government of the US. The post describes how the disease sudden sprung up and also spoke of the possibility that some powerful sources control the virus and are spreading it with the aim of biological warfare. It urges people in her post to leave the hand sanitizer and have a sense of direction as it will help one go a long way. Below is the chain message clipping shared by a user on March 13. This same message was reportedly posted by the patient and can be seen shared by many on social media:
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Karen claimed coronavirus to be an impeachment hoax
Origin:
Social media is pouring over the clipping of Karen's shared post and along with the fact that she passed away due to COVID-19. Many are sending out their condolences while using Karen as an example to take the issue of the pandemic seriously and take care of oneself. There are people with similar thoughts and feelings as Karen and hence they are being made aware of the seriousness of this issue through Karen's example. The incident is eye-opening for all those who are not taking the coronavirus seriously.
Karen Kolb Sehlke obituary
Google Trends Analytics:
In the picture given below, one can see how people have been searching for Karen Kolb Sehlke on the internet. The searches reached its peak on April 6, 2020, at 5.30 PM. The searches are being done on a significant scale, as seen by the constant rise and fall of the graph.
Updated 15:17 IST, April 9th 2020