Claim: A WhatsApp message being circulated claims that South City Hospital, Imtiaz Supermarket and Chase Up have all been shut due to Covid-19 outbreaks. The message also claims that 16 positive Covid-19 cases can be traced to Al Jadeed store. Fact: No recent Covid-19 outbreaks have been reported in any of the above mentioned places […]
Claim: Hotels in Naran, Kaghan and Shogran have been sealed shut due to the discovery of recent Covid-19 cases in the region. Fact: This claim is false, at least two hotels in Naran and one in Shogran are open and fully operational. Moreover, the managers of these hotels say that authorities never told them to […]
Claim: Eating locusts boosts the immune system’s response against Covid-19. Fact: The immune system cannot be modified significantly by the consumption of any specific food, locusts or otherwise. Adhering to a healthy diet on the whole is the only way to provide ongoing support to the immune system. On June 24 2020, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA […]
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: News headlines portray bubonic plague case in China as a novel occurrence Fact: Cases of the bubonic plague are reported worldwide every year. The disease is curable in most cases. A number of western international media outlets such as CNN, BBC and the New York Times reported over the weekend that a case of […]
Claim: Fumigation of outdoor spaces with a disinfectant is an effective way to curtail the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19). Fact: Spraying or fumigation of outdoor spaces is not recommended and is ineffective in preventing the spread of Covid-19. Since the start of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, we have seen videos and images from […]
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: 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: The Ozone layer is recovering after a larger than usual hole formed above the Arctic in April 2020 due to a reduction in aerosol pollutants caused by Covid-19 lockdowns. Fact: The polar vortex is a system of strong and cold circular winds in the Arctic which caused the formation of the hole, and when […]