Multiple posts have been circulating online with the claims that dead bodies of COVID-19 victims are being disposed off in the river Ganges in Bihar’s capital Patna.
Some of the posts contained images of two men on a boat disposing of a large plastic bag in a river body.
Ganga Maiya Ki JAI
—————#COVID Patients Dead Bodies are Dumped in The Ganges–#PATNA. Serious Contamination may happen. 🖤— ϻıṡɞѧȗʟ Ĥȏզȗє مصباح الحق 🛡️⚡🌈🙏 (@HoqueMisbaul) July 10, 2020
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FACT CHECK
We ran the above image through a Google Reverse Image Search and came across a similar image on Hindustan Times online paper from July 8, 2020. The report stated that Patna Medical College Hospital staffers were seen disposing off an unclaimed body.
While the image does not clarify why the body was being disposed off, but it does refer to only one unclaimed body as opposed to multiple dead bodies as mentioned in the viral posts.
We then checked whether Patna Medical College Hospital treated COVID-19 patients and came across a post on Indian Express dated July 11, 2020, which reported that in Bihar, COVID-19 treatment has been made available only in three medical colleges so far — NMCH at Patna, ANMCH at Gaya and JLNMCH at Bhagalpur.
Hence, the Patna Medical College Hospital is not sanctioned to treat COVID-19 patients. These claims are thus misleading.
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