AFP Sri Lanka

Misleading claim circulates that Muslims ignored COVID-19 curfew at Sri Lankan mosque

Published on 8 April 2020 at 09:45

A claim has been shared on Facebook and several Sri Lankan news websites that Muslims at a mosque in Sri Lanka reacted violently after authorities told them their gathering was in violation of the country's novel coronavirus curfew. The claim is misleading; police and public health officials said that locals were in fact asked to gather at the mosque to receive tests to detect COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The scuffle that occurred at the event was sparked over fears that the testing site would make the village more susceptible to infections, they said.

The doctor interviewed in this report did not say he was involved in the development of COVID-19 test kits

Published on 6 April 2020 at 05:45

A video has been viewed thousands of times in Facebook posts alongside a claim it shows a Sri Lankan doctor who invented a rapid test kit for the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The claim is false; the doctor seen in the video was being interviewed by an Australian television channel to discuss the benefits of rapid COVID-19 testing; the doctor told AFP he was not involved in the development of testing kits.

This photo shows trucks branded with the image of the current Sri Lankan Prime Minister that were used in 2014

Published on 3 April 2020 at 10:55

A photo of a fleet of blue lorries bearing the image of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has been shared repeatedly on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim that the lorries were distributing food during the novel coronavirus curfew. The claim is misleading; the photo in fact shows lorries that were used in a political initiative in 2014, more than five years before the coronavirus pandemic. Rajapaksa’s office also denied the claim, saying that authorities are pursuing legal action against those spreading the “false information”.

Sri Lankan authorities say medical facilities at this hospital will remain open to all COVID-19 patients

Published on 2 April 2020 at 09:40

A photo of a Sri Lankan military hospital has been shared thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts alongside a claim that it has been reserved exclusively for the use of "VIPs" who test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The claim is misleading; Sri Lankan military and hospital authorities told AFP that the military hospital and the country's other medical facilities are being prepared for all COVID-19 patients.

These images show vegetables being donated in Sri Lanka in 2019, months before the COVID-19 pandemic

Published on 1 April 2020 at 17:30

Seven photos have been shared repeatedly in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter, alongside a claim that they show vegetables donated to disadvantaged people during a curfew prompted by the novel coronavirus pandemic in Sri Lanka. The photos have been shared in a misleading context; they actually show vegetables being donated at an event in southern Sri Lanka in August 2019, more than eight months before the curfew was implemented.

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