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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - May 4


A healthcare worker wearing protective gear transports the body of a person to a refrigerated truck during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Evandro Freire hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
A healthcare worker wearing protective gear transports the body of a person to a refrigerated truck during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Evandro Freire hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

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

Daily Debunk

Claim: The CDC revised down the number of COVID-19 deaths.

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: BuzzFeed​

Social Media Disinfo​

A billboard informing about the importance of social distancing, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen on a facade in Stockholm, Sweden April 29, 2020.
A billboard informing about the importance of social distancing, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen on a facade in Stockholm, Sweden April 29, 2020.

Circulating on social media: The claim that Sweden has "zero lockdown” and “is in no worse shape than Denmark or Norway,” which are in lockdown.

Verdict: Mostly False

Read the full story at: PolitiFact

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

Three potential futures for Covid-19: recurring small outbreaks, a monster wave, or a persistent crisis
What all three scenarios agree on is this: There is virtually no chance Covid-19 will end when the world bids good riddance to a calamitous 2020.
-- Stat, May 1

Wuhan shows the world that the end of lockdown is just the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis
Despite the lifting of most strict lockdown laws, many stores are still shut, restaurants are restricted to takeaway and even when citizens go outside they still wear protective equipment and try to avoid each other.
-- CNN, April 30​

Comparing COVID-19 Deaths to Flu Deaths Is like Comparing Apples to Oranges
The former are actual numbers; the latter are inflated statistical estimates
-- Scientific American, April 28

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

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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