Facebook page of TV Pirveli published a post, claiming that, as of May 10, Georgia was on the first place in the world by death rate with COVID-19. The news cited Our World in Data as the source. Mtavari TV published the same news on its website, based on the same source.
Several hours after publishing, the Facebook pages of both Mtavari TV and TV Pirveli deleted the news.
Nanuka Zhorzholiani, a Mtavari TV host, disseminated identical news on Facebook too. A member of the United National Movement, Levan Khabeishvili, shared her post. Facebook pages Your Page, საზოგადოება & ხალხი (Public & people), საქართველოსთვის (For Georgia), and მე არ გავყიდე საქართველო (I did not sell Georgia) shared similar posts too.
Information, disseminated by TV Pirveli, Mtavari TV, Nanuka Zhorzholiani, and other Facebook pages is manipulative and not true. In fact, according to Our World in Data, Uruguay, not Georgia, was on the first place in the world by COVID-19-related deaths. Georgia was on the 19th place.
Verification of information on Our World in Data, the source named by TV Pirveli and Mtavari TV, reveals that Uruguay was on the first place by COVID-19 deaths per million people as of May 10. The link, indicated by TV Pirveli, shows only some countries. This results in Georgia being on the first place, but not among all countries of the world, but simply among those that are selected in the graph.
Moreover, these graphs showed an average indicator for the last seven days, as of May 10. However, this was not specified in the news articles, disseminated by TV Pirveli, Mtavari TV, or other Facebook pages. Our World in Data graphs are based on the data by Johns Hopkins University, according to which, calculated from the onset of the pandemic, Hungary is currently on the first place by COVID deaths per 100,000 people. Georgia is on the 37th place. However, these statistics do not include the May 11 data.
As of May 11, a total of 4,336 people had died of COVID-19 in Georgia. This figure can also be found on worldometers.info. According to this website, Georgia is currently on the 40th place in the world by COVID-19 deaths per million.
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