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    • Viral image of woman with oxygen mask outside Central Vista construction site is morphed – ThePrint

    By on May 1, 2021


    Viral photograph doing the rounds on social media | Twitter


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    New Delhi: As India struggles with the deadly second wave of Covid-19 and hospitals face an oxygen crisis, a photograph of a woman wearing an oxygen mask and lying on a stretcher is being shared widely online.

    In the photo, a healthcare worker wearing a PPE suit can be seen wheeling the woman outside the Central Vista construction site.

    The picture was shared by Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Twitter and wrote, “But is He moved? Does He care? Absolutely shocking!”

    Maheshmurti Leni S. Jadav, national coordinator, AICC research department, also shared the picture with the hashtags #CentralVistaProject and #BjpDestroyedIndia”.

    Several other users also shared the image on Twitter.

    Fact check

    The viral photo of the woman, however, is morphed.

    The photo is amalgamation of two images. The image of the woman with an oxygen mask was carried by The Wall Street Journal in a report titled ‘India’s Covid-19 Surge Worsens as Nation Stumbles in Vaccine Expansion‘. The second image — the Central Vista construction work signboard — is from a news report by Scroll.

    Jairam Ramesh later said, “Regardless of whether this is an actual photograph or a depiction, what is absolutely shocking is the Prime Minister not scrapping the Central Vista project in the middle of a devastating pandemic.”

    Another Twitter user who had shared the morphed image said, “(Yes, it might be photoshopped. Yet.)”.

     

    In the past few weeks, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has choked health facilities across the country. Several Opposition leaders have slammed the Modi government for bringing the construction work of its ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project under the ambit of “essential services” for smooth movement of labourers even as Covid cases spiral.

    In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer

    Also read: No, empty nebuliser is no substitute for oxygen cylinder as this doctor claimed in viral video

     

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