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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - April 7


U.S. -- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, in Washington, April 6, 2020
U.S. -- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, in Washington, April 6, 2020

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

Daily Debunk

Claim: "HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" -- President Donald Trump via Twitter, March 21

Verdict: Disputed

Read the full story: "Why does Trump call an 86-year-old unproven drug a game-changer against coronavirus?" Washington Post, April 6

Social Media Disinfo​

Charles Lieber
Charles Lieber

Circulating on social media: The claim that a Harvard professor charged with lying about receiving secret Chinese government payments was in fact arrested for creating the cornoavirus.

Verdict: False

Read the full story: "No Link Between Harvard Scientist Charles Lieber and Coronavirus," FactCheck.org​

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

A small trial finds that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating coronavirus
[A] study just published in a French medical journal provides new evidence that hydroxychloroquine does not appear to help the immune system clear the coronavirus from the body.
-- The Conversation, April 3 ​

An antibody test for the novel coronavirus will soon be available
In the short term, this will be important because it will permit the authorities to identify who may return to their jobs without risk of infecting others.
– The Economist, April 2

The Race to Build COVID-19 Ventilators
The world needs more ventilators – but scaling up production is more complex than it seems.
-- BBC, April 1

Chinese State Media Seeks to Influence International Perceptions of COVID-19 Pandemic
We assess that the effort we see today to cast doubt on the origin of COVID-19 and shift the blame away from China began in mid-February with the transition away from the use of Wuhan-specific hashtags in COVID-19 posts.
-- Recorded Future, March 30

Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019: a model-based analysis
Our estimated overall infection fatality ratio for China was 0·66% (0·39–1·33), with an increasing profile with age.
-- The Lancet, April 30

Mapping the COVID-19 outbreak

USAFACTS.org map displaying confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. by county
USAFACTS.org map displaying confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. by county

The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections

Agence France Presse

Snopes

BuzzFeed

Factcheck.org

Associated Press

Washington Post

TruthOrFiction

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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