A video showing a group of men saying that an empty lobby in the A&E department shows that hospitals are not overwhelmed by COVID-19 has been recorded in a hospital that does not have an A&E department did not treat COVID-19 patients.
The video (here) shows three men trying to visit an A&E at Kidderminster Hospital in Worcestershire, England. In the video, they repeatedly say that they are going to an A&E (timestamps 0.19, 2.17, 2.49) to show that the COVID-19 crisis is not “justifiable to be called a pandemic” (timestamp 1.50). After entering a building that they describe as an A&E and seeing no patients in the foyer, they leave and conclude “there is nothing going on” and “this is not a pandemic” (timestamps 3.24 and 3.50).
Kidderminster Hospital, where the video was filmed, has had no A&E unit for more than 20 years (here and here and here). The area in which the men filmed was a unit for minor injuries, as seen in a sign on the foyer wall (time stamp 2.16). While the men in the video who use the phrase “Minor Injuries Unit” with A&E can be heard, they do not serve the same function (download here: here).
An NHS spokesman confirmed that patients with COVID-19 should not present themselves at minor injury units and would generally be taken to an A&E ward by ambulance. This is in line with public advice offered on the NHS website (here). The NHS spokesperson also confirmed that COVID-19 patients are not being treated at Kidderminster Hospital.
The word “pandemic” is used to describe an epidemic or outbreak of disease that has spread to several countries on several continents and affects an unusually large number of people (here). The ongoing COVID-19 situation meets these conditions.
Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of the NHS Trust Worcestershire Acute Hospitals, told Reuters in an email: ‘I’m sure anyone who has seen or heard these videos will share my disgust and outrage that someone like that toxic falsehood wants hawker. news while NHS staff across the country face the devastating impact of the pandemic on a daily basis.
“Their actions were reckless and their agenda to deny the impact of Covid is ignorant and potentially life-threatening. We have a very difficult task to do, and this kind of foolishness can damage the morale of the staff at the worst possible time. ”
VERDICT
Untrue. The video claiming to be an A&E was recorded in a hospital that does not have an A&E department. Further allegations that the lack of activity in the hospital indicates that the COVID-19 crisis is not a pandemic are untrue, as the hospital does not treat COVID-19 patients. The ongoing COVID-19 situation meets the conditions for a pandemic.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more here (here) about our fact-checking work.