False: A consultant at a hospital in Surrey said that hospitals are empty and that there is no pandemic.

By: Devika Kandelwal
December 22 2020

Share Article:

The claim is not supported by the number of cases reported from Surrey, and the NHS refuted the claim.In July 2020, a letter, allegedly written by a consultant in Surrey, was circulating on social media claiming that hospitals are empty and that there is no pandemic. The letter says: “In my opinion, and that of many of my colleagues, there has been no COVID Pandemic, certainly not in the Surrey region and I have heard from other colleagues this picture is the same throughout the country.” The letter first appeared on Twitter and was shared widely before Twitter deleted it for violating its policy as part of its efforts to crack down on harmful COVID-19 related content and added an ‘unsafe’ warning to the blog post. Facebook also said it has banned posts of the Surrey claims. The NHS told Reuters in a statement supported by both the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, that “The content and claims made within this social media post are not recognised by the local NHS”. The letter was also reportedly riddled with grammatical errors and Dr. Julia Patterson of campaign group Every Doctor told Full Fact that "doctors in its forum had said that the letter doesn’t feel or read like it was written by someone in the medical profession." As of December 21, Surrey has reported 26,185 cases of COVID-19 and 1,025 deaths. On March 12, 2020, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson labeled the "global pandemic" of COVID-19 was the "worst public health crisis for a generation" The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.