This post contains graphic content.
A video making the rounds on social media claims to show a hospital floor in New York City covered in body bags.
Allegedly leaked online by a nurse, several rooms filled with what appear to be deceased individuals can be seen throughout the footage.
But countless other posts online claim that the video was filmed in the U.K. and Spain as well, among other countries.
So where exactly was it filmed? For starters, the video was not filmed in New York.
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As reported by AFP, a name that is momentarily visible on one of the body bags was traced back to South America.
The deceased man, according to online records, worked at a real estate agency in Ecuador. AFP contacted that agency and confirmed that a man who had worked for them recently passed away.
As it turns out, an Ecuadorian journalist had shared the viral video as far back as March 31. That same journalist just one day prior had tweeted a photo from inside a hospital filled with body bags as well.
The body bags and the layout of the hospital appear identical to what is seen in the viral video.
Green and white signs on the walls in the photograph were also found to be the same as those used in the General Hospital del Norte IESS Los Ceibos in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador.
The hospital on April 3 had released a statement online saying that “the corpses of COVID-19 patients remain in the hospital morgue, for at least 24 hours, before being transferred to refrigerated containers in the Parque de La Paz cemetery and others for their respective burials.”
Although it remains unclear whether the video is being filmed in a morgue, it is undoubtedly not from a hospital in New York.
A U.S. healthcare spokesperson staunchly said as much to AFP, calling allegations that the footage was filmed in New York City “abhorrent misinformation.”
A spokesperson for New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital also refuted the claims after it too was alleged to be the source of the video.
“We are deeply disturbed by this video. The portion of the video filming the morgue space is absolutely NOT taken inside our morgue, or in the trailer outside of our hospital – which have been provided to all NYC hospitals,” the hospital tweeted. “Our morgue is locked and guarded by security at all times.”
Despite attempts to combine the clip with footage of other hospitals in New York City as well, the video was assuredly taken in Ecuador.
The South American nation has recorded 7,603 confirmed cases of coronavirus thus far, although only 369 deaths have been reported, according to statistics from John Hopkins University.
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H/T Rappler