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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - April 29


A grey market salesman sells face masks and hand sanitiser at a street corner in Sarajevo
A grey market salesman sells face masks and hand sanitiser at a street corner in Sarajevo

Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.

Daily Debunk

Claim: You need a pulse oximeter at home to monitor COVID-19 symptoms.

Verdict: Mostly False

Read the full story: "Fact Check: Does this device monitor COVID-19 symptoms?" NBC2 News

Social Media Disinfo​

PolitiFact
PolitiFact

Circulating on social media: Claim that ultraviolet radiation is administered into the body as a disinfectant to kill bacteria and viruses.

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: PolitiFact​

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide
Eight ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
-- Nature, April 28

Hello, social distancing. Goodbye, handshakes?
Our hands can carry Salmonella, E. coli, norovirus and respiratory infections like adenovirus and hand-foot-mouth disease.
-- Reuters, April 28​

Did the COVID-19 virus originate from a lab or nature? Examining the evidence for different hypotheses of the novel coronavirus’ origins
Taken together, the information presented here suggests that it is much more likely that SARS-CoV-2 was generated naturally and transmitted zoonotically, without any engineering or lab growth.
-- Health Feedback, April 24​

Pick of the coronavirus papers: Intensive testing finds a small town’s many silent infections
A large proportion of people with COVID-19 have no symptoms, according to research in a small Italian town.
-- Nature, April 23

Why the World Bank ex-chief is on a mission to end coronavirus transmission
Fearing an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions, Jim Yong Kim is rolling out a plan to halt the pandemic rather than weather it out.
-- Nature, April 22, 2020

A New Doctor Faces the Coronavirus in Queens
A front-line physician at Elmhurst Hospital sees how closely socioeconomic status is tied to the disease, and tries to help patients who are dying without their families.
-- The New Yorker, April 20

The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections

Agence France Presse

Snopes

BuzzFeed

Factcheck.org

Associated Press

Washington Post

TruthOrFiction

Mapping the COVID-19

Reliable Coronavirus Information

World Health Organization

U.S. Centers for Disease Control

Federation of American Scientists

Emergency Physicians

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine​

Pan American Health Organization

Google COVID‑19 Information & Resources

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