A picture of some passengers onboard a flight, wearing face shields and masks, is doing the rounds on the internet. It is being claimed that the picture is taken in Indonesia.
Since the Indonesian government eased travel restrictions imposed to curb the Coronavirus pandemic, allowing officials, lawmakers and businesspersons with ‘essential urgencies’ to travel, the claim comments on the lack of social distancing on board flights.
The caption of the picture read, ‘When riding a motorcycle, it is prohibited to give a ride. When using a car, a wife is prohibited to sit next to her husband. On a flight? Freeeee. Indonesia, do whatever you want. It is time for health workers to #stayAtHome.’ (Translated from Indonesian)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above picture and found that the claim attached to it is FAKE.
When we put the picture through Reverse Image Search, we found a tweet by Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, dated May 10, 2020, featuring the same picture.
The times they are a changing!
Not a scene from a sci-fi blockbuster but a picture of passengers with face shields onboard the Singapore-Mumbai flight which landed earlier today.
Preventive measures are the new normal.
Changes are here to stay.@MoCA_GoI @airindiain pic.twitter.com/xMRvYS549Z
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 10, 2020
According to the tweet, the picture shows passengers onboard a flight from Singapore to Mumbai being evacuated amid COVID-19 pandemic.
We found the same picture on Air India’s official Facebook page, posted on May 10. The caption of the picture read, ‘#FlyAI: Mission Vande Bharat. Welcome to India’.
Therefore, the above information proves that the picture shows Indians returning home from Singapore in flights started by the Government of India under the evacuation exercise Mission Vande Bharat amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
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