A social media post is being shared widely amidst the rise in COVID-19 cases in India, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been called by the Time magazine as a ‘Super Spreader’. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Time magazine calls PM Modi, a ‘Super Spreader’, amidst the rise of COVID-19 cases in India.
Fact: There has been no issue released recently by the Time magazine that has Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its Cover. The Time magazine cover on 17 July 2006 (the date mentioned on the top left corner of the photo) is ‘The end of cowboy diplomacy. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Super Spreader, according to Merriam Webster dictionary, is an individual who is highly contagious and capable of transmitting a communicable disease to an unusually large number of uninfected individuals. The word ‘super spreader’ has become well known ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In relation to the ongoing pandemic, this post has been circulating widely. On observing the photo in the post, we can see the date on the top left corner which is ‘July 17, 2006’.
A simple google search ‘time magazine covers’, took us to the Vault, the Time Magazine’s online archive where all the covers published by the magazine are stored. When we searched for the Magazine cover dated July 17, 2006, we can see that the cover says, ‘The end of cowboy diplomacy’ and not the one mentioned in the post. So clearly, the photo in the post is edited to include the PM’s picture using the original cover of 2006.
To sum it up, Time magazine did not call Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘super spreader’, amidst the rise of Covid-19 cases in India. The image shared in the post is an edited one.
