This photo of Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal distributing masks is not related COVID-19 pandemic - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 8, 2021
A photo is being shared on social media claiming it as recent visuals of Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia standing without wearing a mask while teaching a student how to wear a mask. Let’s verify the claim made in the post. This is being shared in the context of increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.
Claim: Recent photo of Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal standing without wearing a mask while teaching a student how to wear a mask.
Fact: This photo is related to the Delhi Government’s initiative to protect children from air pollution in 2019. In November 2019, Aravind Kejriwal led Delhi Government took the initiative to distribute 50 lakh N95 masks to protect children from air pollution. This photo has nothing to do with COVID-19. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar photo is found in an article published on 01 November 2019. In the article, it is reported that Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal handed out masks to school children as part of the Government’s initiative to protect them from air pollution. The Delhi Government took an initiative to distribute 50 lakh masks to protect children from air pollution in Delhi. As part of this initiative, Aravind Kejriwal reportedly distributed face masks to the children in a Delhi school on 01 November 2019.
On 01 November 2019, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shared the same photo on their Twitter handle. In the tweet, it is mentioned that Aravind Kejriwal led Delhi Government has started distributing face masks in Government and Private schools to protect children from air pollution.
"Delhi has turned into a 'gas chamber' due to pollution caused by crop burning in neighbouring states.
This is why we are distributing 50lakh masks from today onwards in pvt. and govt. schools.
I urge all Delhiites to use them whenever needed.”@ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/cMUNpHo4dl
News articles and videos published about this event can be seen here and here. The first COVID-19 case in India was confirmed on 30 January 2020 in Kerala. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the photo shared in the post is not related to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India.
To sum it up, 2019 photo of Aravind Kejriwal distributing face masks to protect children from air pollution falsely linked to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India.