CBS News acknowledged it aired the wrong footage while reporting last week on New York hospitals and the ventilator shortage during the coronavirus outbreak.
Inquisitive social media users noticed that CBS This Morning aired footage on Wednesday during a report on Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s response to the coronavirus pandemic that looked to be the same as footage from a recent Sky News report about a hospital in Bergamo, Italy.
“It was an editing mistake,” a CBS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner when asked about the footage. “We took immediate steps to remove it from all platforms and shows.”
The footage of the Italy-based hospital was presented as imagery from a hospital in New York, but the same clip was seen during a Sky News segment on Italian hospitals and the COVID-19 virus on March 22.
The CBS News segment focused on the growing coronavirus crisis in New York. It included clips of Cuomo as well as statements by Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator.
“That is because more than half of the nation’s new coronavirus cases are being found right here,” CBS News reported after a Birx clip was shown. “Crowded subway cars may have accelerated the spread. New York’s governor says FEMA gave the state 400 ventilators,” a voiceover continued as clips of a crowded subway car and the Italian hospital played.
.@CBSNews used footage from a hospital in Italy while doing a segment on the conditions in New York City.
The bottom is Sky News from March 22.
The top is CBS News from March 25.
pic.twitter.com/HSxBPdAMMa— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 30, 2020
“This is the main hospital in Bergamo, in Lombardy province. It’s one of the most advanced hospitals in Europe,” Sky News reported when it aired the same footage.
Globally, there have been more than 750,000 cases of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, there have been more than 36,000 deaths from the virus, while more than 160,000 people who contracted it have since recovered.
