Claim
A viral Facebook post with a video claims that a Coronavirus ward was closed after the last patient was cured in New Zealand.
We received this video on our Whatsapp verification helpline number as well asking what the reality of the video is.
Factcheck
The video with the above claim showed hospital staff taking off their surgical caps and throwing it away like students do after their graduation ceremony. The healthcare workers are seen waving at the camera, closing a pair of doors and clapping in celebration.
Taking cue from the water mark in the video which reads, “visititaly.eu” we performed a cursory Google search which lead us to Visit Italy’s Facebook page. We found the same video posted on their timeline on 8 June with a description that says, “Matera’s hospital closes Coronavirus ward.”
Using the reverse image search technique we found many results of the same video being shared with similar descriptions on multiple Italian news websites.
The video was also posted on trmtv.it, an Italian new media organisation’s Facebook page on 5 June, 2020 with a note that said, “Matera | closes the Covid department at “Madonna delle Grazie.””
Another news organisation, MateraNews, also posted this video on their Facebook page stating that the coronavirus department closed at the Madonna delle Grazie hospital. This hospital is situated in Matera, a city in the region of Basilicata, southern Italy.
An advanced Google search with related keywords and the hospital name, Madonna delle Grazie, led us to a video shared by a nurse at the same hospital on his Facebook timeline on 5 June. He also shared an image of an article taken from what looks like a regional newspaper on his timeline the next day.
We came across the same video being shared on a Youtube channel called Euro News Amateur on 7 June, 2020. It’s description read:
MATERA – The joy of nurses, doctors and entire healthcare personnel who celebrate the closure of the Covid-19 ward at the Madonna delle Grazie in Matera. Masks and headphones in the wind in a symbolic gesture like American graduation ceremonies and engaging and satisfied smiles mixed with emotion and self-sacrifice. All in the video that we report below, with a door that closes and a sign that reads: “Be good, don’t let us reopen”.
We’ve also reached out to Facta.news, a project conceived and carried out by Pagella Politica, a fact-checking organisation based in Italy. We will update this copy if and when we receive a response from them.
Conclusion
The multiple Italian news organisations that have reported on the video stating that a Coronavirus ward at Madonna delle Grazie hospital was closed, and the Facebook post by a nurse from the same hospital makes it clear that this video is from Italy, not New Zealand.
Though it’s true that New Zealand recently reported that no new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the country, this claim which associates the tagged video to a Coronavirus ward closing in New Zealand is misleading with a false connection.
Tools Used
- Google advanced search
- Youtube
- InVid
Result: Misleading with a false connection
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