Fact Check: Post claiming man critical with novel coronavirus in Barhalganj is fake; till date, no positive case reported in Gorakhpur

A viral post on social media posted on Feb 8, 2020 claims that a man in Barhalganj, a town in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh is infected with Coronavirus and is in a critical condition. It further states that the patient got infected from the virus after consuming chicken. Vishvas News investigated and found that the viral post is false.

Claim

The viral post shared on Twitter by a user named कट्टर समाजवादी states that: ‘A man in Barhalganj, a town in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh is infected with Coronavirus and is in a critical condition. The Hindi post reads in English: A man in Barhalganj is critical as he is infected with coronavirus. He has been admitted in a nearby hospital and during investigation, it was found that he got infected from coronavirus by eating chicken.” The archived version from the post can be checked here.

Investigation

Vishvas News started its investigation by breaking down various elements of the viral claim.

Claim 1: A man in Barhalganj, a town in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh is infected with novel coronavirus and is in a critical condition.

Vishvas News investigated by contacting Dr. Shrikant Tiwari, the Chief Medical Officer of Gorakhpur district. on March 2, 2020. He said: “We have tested all people who returned from abroad or the suspects, all have been tested negative against the novel coronavirus. There is no case of novel coronavirus reported in Barhalganj. The viral post is fake.“

We further investigated and found a report on the website of Jagran.com. The report stated that 35 people who returned from abroad in Gorakhpur were tested for novel coronavirus and the test results were negative in all the cases.

We found another report on Jagran.com’s website. The report confirmed Dr. Srikant Tiwari’s statement that there is no confirmed case of coronavirus in Gorakhpur till date.

As per reports and as per health experts, till date, there is no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Barhalganj, a town in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Claim 2: The man who is critical due to coronavirus in Barhalganj got infected by consuming chicken

Vishvas News debunked the similar claims earlier as well. It can be checked here and here.

Disclaimer: The #CoronavirusFacts database records fact-checks published since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic and its consequences are constantly evolving and data that was accurate weeks or even days ago might have changed. Remember to check the date when the fact-check you are reading was published before sharing it.

Conclusion: There is no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Barhalganj, a town in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. And the man did not get infected with coronavirus in Barhalganj by consuming chicken. The viral post is fake.

Tags

• Coronavirus