The photo was published here on Facebook on April 15, 2020. It has been shared 7,400 times.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The post's Sinhala-language photo caption translates to English as: "This is the situation in some countries - understand the situation and stay home".
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The posts were published as millions of people worldwide continue to live under "stay home" orders, with governments enforcing lockdowns and closing borders to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As of April 16, 2020, the World Health Organization has reported at least 130,000 COVID-19 deaths and almost two million infections globally.
The photo was also shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook with similar claims.
But the claims about the photo are misleading.
A reverse Google image search of the photo found that it was published here by the Associated Press (AP), a US-based news agency. The photo's caption states it was taken on December 30, 2004 in Thailand.
The photo description states: "In this Dec. 30, 2004 file photo, Thais walk outside a Buddhist temple, near Takuapa, Thailand, where more than 1,000 bodies have been gathered. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, leaving more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and causing about $10 billion in damage. Countries from Indonesia to India to Africa's east coast were hit, leaving shocking scenes of death and destruction."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and the AP photo (R) :