Has Raila Odinga Contracted the Coronavirus?

A claim has surfaced on Twitter stating that opposition leader Raila Odinga has contracted the novel coronavirus.

Pray for conman Raila Odinga corona is doing wonders pic.twitter.com/iLBCDtYcU3

— Tung Juok (@OfMouthpiece) April 7, 2020

Background

As of April 8^th, there are 179 confirmed cases in Kenya which have claimed six lives so far (see up to date information on our tracker). The government has responded to the rise in cases by imposing a three week ban in areas of reported coronavirus cases along with extending the ban of international flights for an additional 30 days.

Verification

A quick reverse imaging search of the supposed claim shows that the original photo of Raila Odinga in the hospital was actually taken in 2017 after he was hospitalized following food poisoning. The incident was reported in the country’s main media outlets like The Standard, for instance.

Responding to the country’s increasing COVID-19 cases, the former prime minister has recently called on the public to maintain safe social distancing from each other to fight off the rise of coronavirus cases. There has been no reported news that Odinga has contracted COVID-19.

Verdict

The claim that opposition leader Raila Odinga has contracted coronavirus is therefore false.