Wayne hospital denies rumor that undocumented immigrants, Afghan refugees in COVID unit

A rumor circulating about Wayne UNC Health Care is untrue, according to a spokesperson with UNC Health.

Posted 8:04 p.m. Aug 22, 2021 — Updated 10:36 p.m. Aug 22, 2021

Maggie Brown

, WRAL multiplatform producer

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — A rumor circulating about Wayne UNC Health Care is untrue, according to a spokesperson with UNC Health.

The rumor says that the hospital in Goldsboro is housing undocumented immigrants and Afghan refugees who are positive with coronavirus.

Alan Wolf, spokesperson with UNC Health, said that Wayne UNC Health Care's COVID-19 unit is filled up with native, Goldsboro residents who are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

A WRAL viewer sent a tip into the newsroom on Sunday afternoon that said nurses were complaining about a surge in migrants. Nine were admitted to the hospital on Saturday, the tipster said. This claim was disputed by the president of Wayne UNC Health care.

Wolf said there was also rumors circulating online that the majority of Wayne County's COVID-19 patients were previously vaccinated. This claim is also untrue.

Similar rumors to these have been spread across the country by notable Republicans, according to Politifact. Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, said at the beginning of this month that Joe Biden "imported more virus from around the world by having a wide-open Southern border."

Public health experts say its reasonable to be concerned about the virus spreading among migrants, but there is no evidence that this is happening on a large scale across the United States.

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