Social media users were alarmed by what they thought they saw in a picture of a COVID-19 testing facility. They claimed that the logo for the facility was Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death. They further linked the logo to Satanism.
THE QUESTION
Does the logo for this COVID-19 testing facility depict Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death?
THE ANSWER
No, it’s an aardvark, the logo for Aardvark Mobile Tours, the company whose trucks provide mobile testing for COVID-19 in the Miami, Fla. area.
WHAT WE FOUND
The logo in the Facebook picture matches that of Aardvark Mobile Tours. The picture shows a "COVID-19 mobile testing facility" which Aardvark has pivoted to providing in Florida.
Anubis has the head of a canine, often believed to be a jackal or a wolf, instead of an aardvark.
The rumor that the truck logo was something sinister took off after a July 17 story in the Miami Herald featuring the COVID-19 testing truck. The article included company-supplied photos that prominently show the aardvark logo. Images of the truck actually in Florida show a state symbol and a Florida Health logo rather than the aardvark logo.
Aardvark’s usual business of providing trucks and logistics for company events has taken a back seat to the coronavirus, so it plans to turn more of its fleet into mobile testing sites. Converting a truck to a test site takes about 15 minutes upon arriving at the day’s destination, the company's LinkedIn page says.