This video supposedly showing Covid-19 patients at St Mary’s Hospital, London was actually filmed in Madrid

2 April 2020
What was claimed

A video shows overcrowding in St Mary’s Hospital, London and Covid-19 patients lying on the floor in corridors.

Our verdict

Incorrect, the clip is actually two videos filmed in hospitals in Madrid in mid-March.

A reader sent us a video they had seen, and told us it was claimed that this video showed patients with Covid-19 lying on the floor of St Mary’s Hospital in London.

This is incorrect.

The video is actually a compilation of clips from two Spanish hospitals in Madrid. An early part of the clip shows patients inside Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, it then cuts to scenes that were actually filmed inside another Madrid hospital, Hospital Universitario Severo Ochoa. 

The location of both videos was confirmed by Spanish newspaper El Mundo and they were filmed in mid-March.

There are some clues in the videos that they were not filmed in the UK. For example, an exit sign visible in the video is written in Spanish rather than English.

There are also no recent news stories about St Mary’s Hospital detailing the overcrowding shown in the video.

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