Fact Check: Is Sandra the Orangutan washing hands due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Claim: Sandra the Orangutan was seen washing hands due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Rating: Miscaptioned

What is the rumour about?

According to the viral video, Sandra, an orangutan from a Florida-based animal sanctuary called Center for Great Apes, was seen washing her hands with soap. She started this after watching the zookeepers wash their hands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Who started the rumour?

• Social media users were seen sharing this video of an orangutan along with the caption of "look how she is washing hands during the COVID-19 pandemic". 

Image courtesy: Twitter

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Image courtesy: Facebook

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Republic World did a fact check on the "Orangutan washing hands due to Coronavirus" rumour

• Republic World did a fact check on the orangutan washing hands due to Coronavirus rumour and found it to be miscaptioned. 
• The real video was actually shared by the official Facebook page of Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida in December 2019, when the orangutan named Sandra had just come into the sanctuary. 
• The original video was posted a month before the Coronavirus outbreak. The video's actual date is November 13, 2019. Here is the original video. 

• In the video, the orangutan was seen washing many objects in the tub, after which she even washed her hands. So, the orangutan is actually not washing her hands due to the COVID-19 outbreak here. 
• However, the Center for Great Apes shared the old post of Sandra advocating that people should wash their hands for 20 seconds as a preventive measure to fight against coronavirus. 
• Currently, there is no evidence about the fact whether animals can get infected and spread the virus to people as of now, source CDC. 

Image courtesy: Twitter

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