Still from TV serial “Grey’s Anatomy” is viral claiming medical staff died of COVID-19 in Italy
A collage of two pictures clubbed together is going viral on social media, especially Facebook, showing a few people wearing medical uniform lying on the floor of a hospital. The image tries to claim that these people are doctors and nurses of Italy who have died of COVID-19. Not just this, but the post is also trying to put across a figure stating that more than 200 medical staff members have lost their lives due to the coronavirus outbreak and the image is of a few of them lying dead on the floor of a high-tech hospital ward.
The caption of this post with a misleading claim is: “Over 200 doctor’s and nurse’s dead in Italy / God protect the world from this virus / #letsprayforitaly”
Below mentioned is a screenshot of the same. It has been shared on Facebook and is also one of the first posts that made this false claim, public.
Another picture of how the same is being shared in large numbers on the same platform:
TRUTH:
Italy, undoubtedly, is one of those countries which is in worse condition due to the coronavirus outbreak. With more than 19,000 dead, it is experiencing a tough time and hence the information of the patients suffering from this virus and those who are dead, is being put across in public by a lot of users on social media. Under the operation of citizen journalism, various stories in the form of posts are getting uploaded on social media on a regular basis. The sad part, however, is the fact that much of what is being put out is misleading as they consist of false data, video and image.
The above-mentioned post of medical staff lying dead on the hospital ward is also a product of the same issue of fake news/misleading information. With the help of the reverse image search, we found out that the pictures actually demonstrate a still from the famous web series “Grey’s Anatomy”. This particular scene is from the 14th episode of this series which is titled – wishin’ and hopin’.
The series is based on medical drama and the hospital is an integral part of their set. The name of the hospital is Seattle’s Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and is a fictional property, created only for the purpose of shooting.
Further, Getty images when searched for the same, also prove that the above-mentioned picture is taken from the still of this series as it consists of the same picture with of course better clarity and details of the episode.
Here’s the link to the official website of Getty Images stating out the same:
This image is not what it claims to be. It does not have anything to do with the deaths taking place in Italy due to COVID-19, neither does it truly depict the doctors and nurses being dead from getting infected. It is in reality a still from the famous medical drama based web series called “Grey’s Anatomy” and does not in any way connect with the current situation.
