As New Zealand became the first country to have zero COVID-19 cases in 100 days, a video is doing rounds on the internet in which New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern can be seen visiting a temple. It is being claimed that the video was shot recently when she had visited a temple after declaring her country COVID-19 free.
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The caption reads: “New Zealand PM visiting the temple recently after declaring her country covid free.
Those who are crying on Hindus.”
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact checked the above video and found the claim attached to it to be misleading.
We ran a search with keywords such as ‘Prime Minister’, ‘New Zealand’, ‘Jacinda Ardern’, ‘Temple’, ‘Visit’. The search led us to several video and reports suggesting that Ardern has recently visited temple in Auckland ahead of polls in New Zealand.
The same video was posted on the Facebook page of Radha Krishna Temple – Auckland on August 7, 2020.
The reports don’t mention about the visit being connected with COVID-19.
On digging further, we found a tweet by Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand, Muktesh Pardeshi, in which he shared pictures with PM Ardern during her visit to Radha Krishna Mandir on August 6, 2020. He also mentioned that she had an Indian vegetarian meal which included Puri, Chhole and Daal.
Some precious moments with Hon. PM of New Zealand @jacindaardern at @indiannewslink event on 6 Aug 2020. She paid a short visit to Radha Krishna Mandir and enjoyed a simple Indian vegetarian meal- Puri, Chhole and Daal. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Adn25UE1cO
— Muktesh Pardeshi (@MukteshPardeshi) August 8, 2020
Pardeshi in his tweet didn’t mention about the visit being connected with Coronavirus.
Meanwhile, New Zealand polls have been delayed polls by four weeks to October 17 following fresh spurt of COVID-19 cases in the nation’s largest city of Auckland.
In conclusion, the above fact-check proves that the video in question has no connection with New Zealand becoming Coronavirus-free in the early days of the pandemic.
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