Chinese state media and a government official spread a false image they claimed showed a newly constructed hospital building in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. The image actually shows a modular apartment building more than 600 miles away in Qingdao, China, and was taken from an online listing.

The out-of-context photo was shared in tweets from the verified accounts of Global Times and People's Daily, both of which are state media outlets, and was tweeted by Lijian Zhao, deputy director general of the information department in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Global Times also published an article, archived using Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, featuring the photo.

The false image was spread after videos showing the rapid construction of a new hospital in Wuhan went viral across social media networks. Bloomberg reported that China was planning to build a hospital in a week in the coronavirus-stricken city. The hospital would reportedly have 1,500 beds.