Shoppers stand apart as social distancing measures, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, while queueing outside a supermarket in Manila on March 17, 2020. (AFP / Maria Tan)

Misleading claim circulates on Facebook about a Philippine bread company after two workers test positive for COVID-19

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 31, 2020 at 07:15
1 min read
By AFP Philippines

Multiple posts have been shared repeatedly on Facebook in July 2020 which claim that all workers at Gardenia, a bread-manufacturing factory in the Philippines, had tested positive for COVID-19. The claim is misleading; both the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) and Gardenia said the posts were “fake news”; a DOH spokesperson said there had only been two confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the factory as of July 30, 2020.

The claim was published in this Facebook post on July 16, 2020.

A screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 30, 2020

The post includes a screenshot of what appears to be a private exchange of messages. The text in the screenshot states in part: “dont eat gardenia all people positive… everyone in the entire plant in laguna tested positive”.

Gardenia bread company has a manufacturing plant in Biñan, a city in Laguna province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the Philippine capital Manila.

As of July 30, 2020, the Philippines has reported more than 89,000 individuals testing positive for COVID-19.

A similar claim has also been shared here, here, here and here on Facebook.

The claim is misleading.

In a Viber message on July 30, 2020, DOH undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire told AFP: “Fake news! There are two (2) confirmed cases in Gardenia Binan as per our record / Only one (1) remains an active case.”

In response to the misleading posts, Gardenia published this statement on its Facebook page on July 29, 2020, refuting an additional rumour that it had closed its factory as a result of a coronavirus outbreak.

It states in part: “This is FAKE NEWS! Gardenia continues to manufacture breads at full capacity, 24 hours daily, to ensure continuous supply in the market especially during this pandemic.”

The statement includes photos of the misleading posts, stamped “FAKE NEWS”.

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