Claims that a female Chinese national suspected to have COVID-19 had been stoned to death in Nyali, Mombasa, after failing to go to the hospital have been making the rounds and have been picked up by some news blogs in Kenya like Peoples Republic and Kenya Today. The latter has since pulled down its story on the same.
Accompanying the purported news stories is an image that shows three men carrying a woman who appears to be unconscious and wounded into a waiting ambulance.
Breaking-Suspected female Chinese with covid 19 stoned to death in Nyali Mombasa after she failed to go to hospital https://t.co/vaBTHtIcrP pic.twitter.com/5NkQ0DGhTZ
— Kenya Today (@kenyatodayKE) March 18, 2020
Background
The world is still reeling from the effects of COVID-19. So far, there are 425,325 cases and 18,944 deaths globally. These are figures from across 194 countries.
As of March 24th, Kenya’s coronavirus cases increased to 25. The Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe reported that the cases are spread over 4 counties, namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.
The Ministry of Health placed 14 counties on high alert for coronavirus due to their position as points of entry and others due to their proximity to the former. These are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kiambu, Uasin Gishu, Kajiado, Busia, Migori, Kilifi, Kakamega, Kajiado, Nakuru, Wajir and Garissa.
Mombasa is especially on high alert after the Deputy Governor Kilifi county, Gideon Saburi, tested positive for COVID-19. This is after he had disregarded self-quarantine orders after coming back from a trip abroad. Following this confirmation, Kilifi county has been under partial lockdown to curb the spread of the virus as the said deputy had interacted with several people in the coastal region.
Verification
An image search shows that the image was taken during the September 21st, 2013 terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. A post by the Edmonton Journal shows that the photo was taken by Sayyid Azim of the Associated Press (AP). The men in the picture are from a Kenyan emergency response team and there is no mention of the woman’s nationality.
Additionally, there is no official report or any other mention of this incident from the Kenyan Government, local media or the Chinese embassy in Kenya.
The only incident reported of a person being killed due to suspicions of COVID-19 in Kenya was on March 19 in Kwale County, as reported by Citizen TV. The man is said to have been drunk at the time and suspecting youth took advantage of his situation.
Verdict
No Chinese woman was stoned to death in Mombasa and the claim is, therefore, FALSE.
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