Video of UK Patient Shared as Pak Doctor’s Appeal Before Death
The man in the video is not Pakistani Dr Usman Riaz but a UK resident named Mubashir Ahmed.
CLAIM
A 26-year-old Pakistani doctor, Usman Riaz, died on 23 March after contracting COVID-19, becoming the country’s first medic to die because of the virus. Soon after his death, a viral video surfaced on various social media platforms claiming that it shows the doctor’s final appeal to people before his death.
In the viral clip, the man can be heard saying, “I am feeling much better today, so I thought of speaking to all of us. I request you all to take this virus seriously. This isn’t a joke. Today, I feel a thousand times better.”
He goes on to appeal to people to stand safe and create awareness. The video is also viral on Twitter with the same claim.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The Quint can confirm that while the video has not been altered in any form, the claim with which it is being circulated is false.
The man in the video is not Pakistani Dr Riaz but a UK resident named Mubashir Ahmed, who was admitted to a hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
WHAT WE FOUND
A Google keyword search using “Dr Usman Riaz” directed us to several news reports about the Pakistani doctor.
A report by The Express Tribune carried Dr Riaz’s photo, where he looked very different from the person in the video.
Subsequently, we checked on TweetDeck, a Twitter application, using “Dr Usman Riaz” as the keywords which generated multiple results. One of the users in response to the viral video had mentioned that the person in the video is not Dr Riaz but somebody called Mubashir Ahmed.
We followed the leads and searched for Mubashir Ahmed on Facebook where we came across this same video, which was uploaded on Sunday, 22 March.
In a more recent video, Mubashir also urged people not to fall prey to the viral video being circulated with a misleading claim.
Hence, a video of a UK based person is being circulated to falsely imply that it shows Dr Riaz’s last message before his death.
You can read all our coronavirus related fact-checked stories here.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)