Reno doctor’s selfie hijacked to imply COVID is a hoax
By BEATRICE DUPUY The Associated Press
A photo of a hospital facility in Reno, Nevada, is being misrepresented on social media to fuel the false narrative that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, even as cases surge in the state.
Renown Regional Medical Center has been the target of conspiracy theories online suggesting that hospitals are empty and the virus is not as dangerous as top medical officials say it is.
The hospital opened an annex with two floors of supplemental hospital beds inside a parking structure on Nov. 12 to accommodate an overflow in COVID-19 cases if needed. As the setup was completed that day, Dr. Jacob Keeperman, medical director for Renown’s Transfer and Operations Center, shared on Twitter a photo of himself inside the facility.
Here’s a closer look:
CLAIM: A photo showing a doctor standing in front of empty hospital beds at a Reno auxiliary care site for COVID-19 patients proves that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The photo was taken the day the site was to open, and patients had yet to arrive. Renown Regional Medical Center said the site has treated 198 coronavirus patients.
THE FACTS: In recent weeks, social media posts have shared a variety of falsehoods about the hospital’s parking garage site, with some posts saying that visitors went there and found no patients.
President Donald Trump propelled the misinformation Tuesday, retweeting the photo of the doctor amid empty beds to his more than 80 million followers.
“Fake election results in Nevada, also!,” he said of the tweet, suggesting that the parking garage site was a fake.
Keeperman’s photo was retweeted early on by Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak.
Then it was seized upon by the Twitter account @networkinvegas, which has repeatedly criticized Sisolak for his coronavirus restrictions.
“Here is the fake Nevada parking garage hospital picture that our moron governor tweeted, proving it’s all a scam,” the account tweeted. “No patients, folded up beds, wrapped up equipment that’s never been used! They spent millions on this scam and never seen a single patient in this fake hospital!”
The user behind @networkinvegas could not immediately be reached for comment. The account’s profile says it provides information on “everything you need to network, hook up, and have a good time in Las Vegas.”
When Trump retweeted the photo with the disparaging remark, fired back, saying that the state has had to deal with the president’s nonstop attempts to politicize the virus that has killed more than 270,000 Americans.
Keeperman echoed that remark. “It is really demoralizing to everybody who is out working so hard to have this politicized and polarized so much,” he said. “I am holding patients’ hands when they take their very last breath because their loved ones can’t be with them.”
Nevada’s hospital population has gradually increased during the autumn surge in the state. The Nevada Hospital Association reported that a record-high 1,589 patients were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Because of competing demands, including the flu, 78% of the state’s nearly 6,900 staffed hospital beds are occupied.
In Washoe County, where Renown is located, supplemental beds have allowed hospitals to remain at 86% capacity.
Early on in the pandemic, photos of empty hospital waiting rooms spread online to falsely suggest that coronavirus was a hoax. Hospital officials explained that the public areas were empty because of procedures limiting visitors and minimizing shared waiting spaces — not because the pandemic wasn’t real.
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Sam Metz contributed to this report. Metz works for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.