A story that claims the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, has contracted the coronavirus has been making the rounds online. It has been on social media, where it appears to originate from and even been picked by up news outlets, increasing in popularity over the last few days.
Background
The UAE was the first Middle Eastern country to report a case of the Coronavirus on January 29. The UAE health ministry confirmed that there is a total of 27 confirmed coronavirus cases currently. The ministry also announced that schools and higher education institutions would close for four weeks as a measure towards containing the spread of the deadly COVID-19 strain of the Coronavirus.
Verification
There are no official statements by the UAE Government to that effect nor any factual information being reported by other media outlets supporting the claim.
An account by the name of, “Karen Ann Caryl” has been suspended by Twitter as it was the account that initially spread the rumour that the UAE leader has the Coronavirus.
The purported owner of the fake account portrayed herself as a “specialist researcher & journalist in the Yemeni and Gulf states issues.”
The account had close to 23,000 followers before being suspended.
A simple reverse image search of the picture used as the Twitter account’s avatar reveals that the woman in the photo is not “Karen Ann Caryl” but someone going by a different name who lives in the United States.
Verdict
Claims that UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed has contracted COVID-19 are FALSE.
Add comment