This Picture Was Taken in Latvia, Not Germany

Dina Faisal

Health

11th December 2021

This Picture Was Taken in Latvia, Not Germany

Signage visible in the photo posted by Gobzems features Latvian writing (Getty).

The Claim

A photograph depicts a fence that separates the vaccinated from the unvaccinated at a German shopping mall.

News posted on

Emerging story

An image is being circulated on social media, which depicts a man and a woman separated by a fence in an indoor venue. The accompanying claim is that the image is of a mall in Germany where a fence separates the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Users expressed their anger and compared the act to Nazism.

A supporting image within the article body

Misbar’s Analysis

The picture was published by Aldis Gobzems, according to a reverse image search on Google. On October 13th, Gobzems posted the image to his Facebook account with a caption in Latvian, which can be seen below in translation, with a caption in English.

He explained in the post that his wife had a QR code, but he did not.

A state of emergency has been declared in Latvia from the 11th of October until the 11th of January to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the restrictions is that non-essential businesses such as "beauty salons, cinemas, entertainment venues, cultural institutions, libraries, sports gyms, etc." can only be accessed by those vaccinated, have a digital certificate, or have recovered from COVID-19.

Based on the findings, the Misbar team confirms the claim is misleading. The image is not a German mall but a Latvian mall where access is restricted based on your vaccination and recovery status. The claim circulating comes at the backdrop of heightened restrictions in Germany amongst a surge in COVID-19 cases.