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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - March 27


A packet from the U.S. Census 2020 hangs on a door amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Whidbey Island, Washington, U.S., March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A packet from the U.S. Census 2020 hangs on a door amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on Whidbey Island, Washington, U.S., March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder


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

Daily Debunk

Claim: Americans must fill out the census to get a stimulus check during the coronavirus emergency.

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: Reuters

Most Common Country of Birth for Foreign-born Residents, Excluding Mexico
Most Common Country of Birth for Foreign-born Residents, Excluding Mexico

Social Media Disinfo​

Circulating on social media: Viral video purporting to show mass graves of COVID-19 victims in Italy in fact taken from a TV mini-series.​

Verdict: False

Read the full story: "Fact Check: This viral video of mass graves is not from Italy but from a TV series" -- India Today​

A screengrab from the viral video of mass graves from a TV series claiming to be from Italy
A screengrab from the viral video of mass graves from a TV series claiming to be from Italy

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

No, the coronavirus wasn’t made in a lab. A genetic analysis shows it’s from nature
The virus’s genetic makeup reveals that SARS-CoV-2 isn’t a mishmash of known viruses, as might be expected if it were human-made.
-- ScienceNews, March 26​

UK has enough intensive care units for coronavirus, expert predicts
UK deaths from the disease are now unlikely to exceed 20,000, [Imperial College London epidemiologist Neil Ferguson] said, and could be much lower.
-- NewScientist (UK), March 25

Hispanics more likely than Americans overall to see coronavirus as a major threat to health and finances
The spread of the coronavirus has the potential to hit many of the nation’s nearly 60 million Latinos particularly hard.
-- Pew Research Center, March 24

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

Does Everyone Over 60 Need to Take the Same Coronavirus Precautions?

Are precautions of the sort the CDC has endorsed really necessary, even in areas where the new coronavirus doesn’t yet appear to be circulating widely? What about disease-free adults in their 60s and 70s?
-- Kaiser Health News, March 24

Can’t Get Tested? Maybe You’re in the Wrong Country​.​
Scientists say the chasm between the testing haves and have-nots reflects politics, public health strategies and, in some cases, blunders​.
-- New York Times, March 20

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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MD
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