This Nurse Did Not Die of COVID-19
The Claim
Nurse Danielle DiCenso died of COVID-19 at the age of 33 after being exposed to the virus at the hospital where she worked in Florida.
News posted on
Emerging story
The news of DiCenso dying of COVID-19 appears to have started with a Florida news story, which suggested in its headline that the nurse died of the virus.
Users across social media platforms began to embrace the tragedy as a symbol of how hospital workers are risking their lives due to a shortage of personal protective equipment. U.S. Rep. Ted Deutsch of Florida tweeted that, “We must take care of those who are caring for us.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows this story to be false. Autopsy reports from the Palm Beach County Medical examiner, which were obtained by CBS12 News in Florida, showed that DiCenso actually died from an acute kidney infection.
COVID-19 and acute kidney infections share many of the same symptoms including shortness of breath, fatigue and fever. While it may have been a logical assumption that DiCenso died of COVID-19, given that she worked in a hospital where she may have been exposed to it, her story is a reminder that facts must be proven, not merely speculated.
