FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims To Show A Chinese Coronavirus Hospital In Wuhan
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows the Huoshenshan temporary field hospital built in Wuhan, China, to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus.
Several state-owned Chinese media outlets, like the People’s Daily and the Global Times, and politicians, like Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department Deputy Director Gen. Lijian Zhao, shared the same image with similar claims. The Global Times and Zhao have since taken theirs down.
#Update: After 16 hours of construction, the 1st building of Huoshenshan Hospital in #Wuhan has completed on Monday. The hospital is expected to be handed over to the military on Feb 2 upon completion and put into use for #coronavirus patients. pic.twitter.com/ino3U8vW0H
— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) January 27, 2020
Verdict: False
The image actually shows a modular apartment building in China.
Fact Check:
The 1,000 bed Huoshenshan Hospital built in just 10 days started accepting its first coronavirus patients on Feb. 3, according to The Associated Press. It is located on the outskirts of Wuhan, the central Chinese city in which the outbreak is believed to have originated.
The image, however, doesn’t actually depict part of that hospital. It shows a modular apartment building that seems to have been taken from either an online listing for it or the manufacturer’s website. The online listing places the apartment building nearly 600 miles away in Qingdao.
Another prefabricated, 1,600-bed hospital also completed construction this week, reported the New York Post. (RELATED: Does China Produce 90% Of Global Carbon Emissions?)
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports there have been 564 deaths and 28,060 confirmed cases of the novel respiratory virus in China as of Feb. 6. It has spread from China to 24 other countries around the globe, according to the same report.
On Jan. 30, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, reported The New York Times.