On 25 June, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari made a speech in the National Assembly in which he addressed the Covid-19 situation in the country. In this speech, he lauded the efforts of the Sindh government in effectively handling the outbreak of the coronavirus, while criticizing the federal government’s response, calling their strategy ‘confused.’ During his speech, […]
On 18 June 2020, the Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul appeared on PTV News and said, “Covid-19 means that it has 19 points that can be applied in any country in any way.” The minister faced online backlash for her inaccurate claim, however, this wasn’t the only false statement she made in […]
Claim: Half of the UK’s imported Covid-19 cases are from Pakistan. Fact: The majority of imported Covid-19 cases in the UK are from European countries. Soch Fact Check received a screenshot of an article published on The Telegraph for verification on Whatsapp. The article’s headline stated that half of the United Kingdom’s imported Covid 19 […]
Claim: Covid-19 is a bacterium and not a virus. Fact: Covid19 is caused by the novel coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2). A widely circulating WhatsApp message claims that the Italian health ministry has discovered that Covid-19 is caused by bacteria. However, this is not the case. There are multiple kinds of coronaviruses and some of them cause illnesses […]
Claim: A bus caught on fire near Quetta after an accident on the N-25 National Highway claiming 47 lives. Fact: No such incident took place. Pictures and videos shared on social media were taken out of context On 8 June 2020, Soch Fact Check received a Facebook post for verification regarding a fatal bus accident […]
Claim: The “GOP Health Department” issued a notice announcing an immediate ban on poultry due to the presence of Covid-19. Fact: Various official sources clarified that no such notification has been issued. Covid-19 cannot spread to poultry. The following image of an alleged government notification dated 4 June 2020 was received by Soch Fact Check […]
On June 1, Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation after a meeting with the National Coordination Committee (NCC) regarding Covid-19. This address was delivered at a time when Pakistan is seeing the biggest spike in Covid related deaths since the beginning of the outbreak. In his speech, Imran Khan said that the novel coronavirus […]
Claim: A viral message forwarded on Whatsapp shared pictures allegedly from a Pakistani mall and warned potential mall-goers that the mould in the pictures could cause serious respiratory infections. Fact: The pictures are from a Malaysian store called Metrojaya in Kuala Lampur, not a Pakistani mall. The pictures were originally posted to Facebook by the […]
Claim: Liquor shops have been directed to reopen by the excise and taxation department Islamabad under lockdown. Fact: Deputy Commissioner Islamabad M Hamza Shafqaat clarified on Twitter the notification is fake. Liquor shops have been shut since lockdown began in Islamabad. On 20 May 2020, the following image of an alleged government notification dated 19 […]
Claim: The Sindh Government directed law enforcement officers to seal off the Punjab Chowrangi area in Karachi due to a surge in COVID-19 cases Fact: The video was filmed in Bara Kahu, an area in Islamabad, which was locked down last week by the administration after 11 new COVID-19 cases were detected. On 1 April […]
CLAIM: According to viral posts shared on Facebook and Twitter, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has been ranked 4th best in the world and 2nd best in Asia by the World Health Organization for timely measures taken to combat COVID-19. FACT: WHO Country Representative in Pakistan Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala praised the governments timely […]
CLAIM: A Whatsapp message went viral, claiming 25 students at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) are suspected to have contracted the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) by sharing a flight with 15 confirmed COVID-19 patients. FACT: No confirmed COVID-19 cases were present on the flight. All LUMS students on the flight in question have […]