No, a Kenyan Covid-19 victim did not come back to life

A video has been circulating on social media in Kenya falsely claiming to show a man who is said to have died of Covid-19 coming back to life during his burial.

A message widely shared on WhatsApp alongside the video claims: “This guy was being buried then the coffin was shaking, they decided to open, they realized the guy was breathing. They removed him from PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] and rushed him back to hospital. Covid-19 drama.”

But the claim is false. The man alleged to have come back to life is actually a PPE-wearing relative of the deceased who collapsed during the burial.

Those who die from Covid-19 are buried in body bags and not PPE. So, the man seen in the video couldn’t have been the one being buried.

Ezra Kirui – a spokesman for Bomet County, where the incident took place – told the BBC the man had been given PPE to join the burial team so that the family could participate in the burial.

He said the man later recovered and was doing well.