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| - Fact Check: Viral post saying Bill Gates violated social distancing norms is misleading
It is being claimed that a photo shows Bill Gates and Dr Anthony Fauci violating the social distancing norms.
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India Today Fact Check
The picture was taken in December 2018 and has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic.
A picture of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates walking with White House coronavirus advisor Dr Anthony Fauci has gone viral on social media. It is being claimed that the photo shows Bill Gates and Dr Anthony Fauci violating the social distancing norms.
The photo also has a text that reads "NO SOCIAL DISTANCING OR MASKS FOR THESE TWO DEMONS WHO ARE SHUTTING DOWN AN ENTIRE PLANET."
What’s the truth?
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the claim with the photo to be misleading. The picture was taken in December 2018 and has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic.
Various social media users have shared this photo with different captions. One of the captions of reads "If any "authority" stop you for not wearing masks just showed this picture to them". The archive of the post can be seen here.
Using reverse search, we found the uncropped version of the viral picture on the website of the National Institute of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States government responsible for public health research.
As per NIH, the picture was taken on December 11, 2018, when Bill Gates visited NIH in Bethesda, Maryland for a workshop.
The picture is also available on NIH’s Flicker account with the caption "The NIH teamed with the Bill Gates and Melinda Gates Foundation to hold their fifth annual consultative workshop on global health. The workshop took place on December 11, 2018, in Bethesda, MD".
The original picture shows Bill Gates, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr Francis Collins, NIH director.
Dr Anthony Fauci is also a member of the White House coronavirus task force. Recently, three members of the White House coronavirus task force including Dr Fauci placed themselves in self- isolation after possible exposure to Covid-19. Although, Dr Fauci’s institute said that he tested negative for Covid-19 and will be tested regularly.
As of May 15 evening, the United States reported almost 15 lakh coronavirus cases with close to 87,000 deaths. More than 3 lakh people have also recovered.
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