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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - May 12


Air travelers wear face masks waiting to board a Southwest Airlines flight at Oakland International airport in Oakland, California, U.S., April 9, 2020.
Air travelers wear face masks waiting to board a Southwest Airlines flight at Oakland International airport in Oakland, California, U.S., April 9, 2020.

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

Daily Debunk

Claim: An airplane is "as safe as an environment as you’re going to find" when it comes to transmission of COVID-19.

Verdict: Mostly False

Read the full story: "Southwest CEO’s boast about airplanes’ low COVID risk overlooks key concerns," PolitiFact​

Social Media Disinfo

Screenshot
Screenshot

Circulating on social media: Claim that H. R. 6666 (the TRACE Act) was introduced to allow the government to enter private homes, force COVID-19 testing on people, and remove children or adults from the home with legal force.

Verdict: Not True

Read the full story at: TruthOrFiction.com​

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

This Is the Future of the Pandemic
Covid-19 isn’t going away soon. Two recent studies mapped out the possible shapes of its trajectory.
-- New York Times, May 8​

How to Avoid Burnout in the Middle of a Pandemic
Burnout is defined as a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged stress. Given the nonstop barrage of stressors these past few months, many of us are probably well on our way to developing burnout, if we aren’t there already.
-- Lifehacker, May 7

Can COVID-19 survive on my phone?
Yes. That’s why a daily wipe down of “high-touch” surfaces like phones, keyboards and tablet computers is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
-- Associated Press, May 7​

Covid-19 Without Independent Journalism
[I]n Russia, a journalist with Novaya Gazeta, Elena Milashina, has first been beaten; then threatened by the leader of the Russian region of Chechnya; been denied support and, finally, seen an article about COVID-19 with her byline removed from the newspaper’s website, following a demand by Russian federal authorities.
-- EUvsDisinfo, May 6

Profile of a killer: the complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic
Scientists are piecing together how SARS-CoV-2 operates, where it came from and what it might do next — but pressing questions remain about the source of COVID-19.
-- Nature, May 4

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

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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