Recently, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has increased, along with reports of deaths caused by the virus. In this context, a claim has been circulating across various online platforms citing Singapore’s Ministry of Health, stating that Singapore is the first country in the world to perform a postmortem (autopsy) on a COVID-19 deceased body.
See the Facebook posts making the claim here, here, and here.
See the Instagram post making the same claim here.
See the YouTube video making the same claim here.
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner’s investigation found that the claim stating “Singapore is the first country in the world to conduct a postmortem on a COVID-19 deceased body” is not true. In fact, this claim has been circulating with the names of various countries since 2020. The Singaporean government has also refuted the claim multiple times, calling it false.
During the investigation, a keyword search to trace the origin of the claim found that the same statement was present in a 2021 Facebook post as well, which can be seen here.
As the claim spread in multiple languages during that time, on June 7, 2021, the Ministry of Health in Singapore stated in a Facebook post here that such information spreading online is false. The Ministry confirmed it had not conducted an autopsy on any COVID-19 corpse, and it had never stated that COVID-19 is not a virus.
Further investigation revealed that the same claim was also seen in 2020, this time associating it with Italy. See that version here.
Recently, the claim has resurfaced, now again linked to Singapore. In response, the country’s Ministry of Health reiterated in a press release published on June 3 here that the information is false. The release stated that the claim first emerged in 2021 and is entirely fabricated. No such incident has ever occurred in Singapore.
Therefore, the claim that Singapore was the first country to perform an autopsy on a COVID-19 victim is completely false.
Source
- Ministry of Health, Singapore: Facebook Post
