The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.
For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*
TO CREATE OR NOT TO CREATE
Image source: Facebook
Fact-checkers at AAP, AFP and Snopes debunked social media posts which claimed Tasuku Honjo, Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine in 2018, said the novel coronavirus was “not natural”, as it spreads in both hot and cold climates, and that it was”manufactured in China”.
Professor Honjo was quoted in these posts as having said: “I have done 40 years of research on animals and viruses. It is not natural. It is manufactured and the virus is completely artificial.”
Fact-checkers at AFP were unable to find any record of Professor Honjo making these remarks, and the professor himself issued a statement saying he was “greatly saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation”.
ANOTHER PRESIDENT LIES
Image source: AP Photo/Alexander Joe
According to the BBC, President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar officially launched an unproven herbal remedy by claiming the tea had already cured two people in the country, prompting people to queue for their supply of the free beverage.
According to Mr Rajoelina “This herbal tea gives results in seven days.”
But the World Health Organisation doesn’t recommend “self-medication with any medicines … as a prevention or cure for COVID-19” and in a report, the Bangkok Times, authored by AFP, has the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note: “There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure the illness caused by COVID-19. In fact, some of them may not be safe to consume.”
MASKS UNMASKED
Image source: Facebook
An infographic, purporting to show the effectiveness of face masks, claims a healthy person wearing a mask has a 70 per cent chance of being infected with the coronavirus by a sick person not wearing a mask. When mask-wearing is reversed, the apparent “contagion probability” falls to 5 per cent. When both healthy and sick people are fitted with masks, the chance of the healthy person of being infected is supposedly just 1 per cent.
Fact-checkers at Snopes and Reuters found that the information was mostly false**, as there was no scientific consensus of the efficacy of face masks nor data to support the quoted percentages. It was also unclear whether the post referred to surgical masks, homemade masks or N95 respirator masks.
However, as reported by Snopes, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that masks helped by “strengthening the social distancing that we are already doing”.
** The infographic made its appearance on Politics Plus too but with the footnote that the commenter who posted it could not vouch for the accuracy.
NO COVID-19 VACCINE YET
Image source: Facebook
Fact-checkers at Full Fact and factcheck.org have debunked a post shared on Facebook that falsely suggests a vaccine exists for the novel coronavirus.
In the post, a caption accompanying the photo of a vaccine vial states: “Now this was 2001 tell me why 19 years later they say there is no vaccine.”
However, the label on the vial clearly states “canine coronavirus vaccine”.
As may be known by now, coronaviruses are a family of viruses. The current outbreak relates to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
According to Full Fact: “Canine coronavirus doesn’t affect people, [but dogs] and is a gastrointestinal disease, not a respiratory one.”
NOT MADE IN CHINA EITHER
Image source: Twitter
A video in France has been shared with a misleading caption suggesting the faulty gear was made in China.
One version of a video, showing brand new medical gowns disintegrating in France, has been shared on Twitter and retweeted more than 250 times, is captioned: “Protect our doctors & nurses by not buying medical supplies from bloody #China!”, AFP Fact Check has found
But a spokesperson of the hospital featured in the video told AFP that the gowns were not made in China. Rather, they were French-made gowns that had been damaged while in storage in a humid place.
AND FROM WASHINGTON D.C.
US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that the US had done more testing for COVID-19 than “every country combined” has been rubbished by fact-checkers at factcheck.org.
When Mr Trump claimed on April 28, the US had carried out almost 6.03 million tests for the disease, which indeed is more than any other country but not more than all other countries combined, with more than 25 million tests administered outside the US.
When related to its population, the US is lagging behind other countries with 20,940 tested per million compared to for example 24,733 tested per million in Australia. Mr Trump may be aware of this and wants to conduct a suggested 5 million COVID-19 tests per day. However, the top US official in charge of testing, Admiral Brett Giroir, said that was not feasible with the current technology.
“There is absolutely no way on Earth, on this planet or any other planet, that we can do 20 million tests a day, or even five million tests a day,” Time magazine reported the testing czar as saying.
In its 56-page “roadmap” for a return to normalcy, a Harvard University study had suggested the US would need to conduct at least 5 million tests a day by early June, and 20 million per day by late July, something Giroir claimed was “an Ivory Tower, unreasonable benchmark”.
THE R NUMBER
Authorities in Germany and many other countries like Australia are paying very close attention to the rate of the spread of COVID-19, using the reproduction number or ‘R’ value as an important reference. The number indicates how many people one person with the virus can infect. For instance, if the rate is equal to 1, it means that one person is infecting – on average – one other person. Mary Colombel explains the logic behind the number.
Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19
#20: Aspirin with lemon juice and honey
“While some home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease.”– A spokesperson for the World Health Organisation, Philippines, as quoted by Rappler
*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.
13 Responses to “COVID-19 Fact and Fiction #4”
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Thanks Lona. Unfortunately Trump has latched on to the misinformation on source of the virus and even his own intelligence agencies are repeating that there is not the evidence for lab source despite how much Pompeo repeats what Trump is choosing this week to claim.Efficacy of masks also depend on what fabric is used, how tightly it fits to face (especially at nose, sides and chin) and whether the person is wearing it properly and putting on and taking off properly (health personnel receive training).
The testing data in the US shows that no state has done/is doing enough to meet the guidelines for reopening. AU has done much better on testing. I admit though, I find it odd that at least one of the states there with the best data has included resuming visits to residential health facilities as a part of phase I.
I posted that mask efficacy graphic quite a while back. I do however add the caveat that I did not know the accuracy of the numbers, but the concepts are correct. And that is still accurate.
The whole Take-Home Lesson is WEAR A MASK!
Also, we should note that the man in the orange hat either giving or receiving the two bottles (the photo under “Another President Lies”) is wearing his mask incorrectly. It needs to cover his nose.
I’ve mentioned that you had a caveat in a footnote:”** The infographic made its appearance on Politics Plus too but with the footnote that the commenter who posted it could not vouch for the accuracy.”
Oz is doing well without masks, not making them mandatory on top of very strict lockdown rules as the experts were and are still out on the contagion probability except for N95 masks, but then we had low numbers of cases to start with. Perhaps they will become mandatory in public transport and such when slowly returning to slacker rules or in a second wave.
OOPS! Sorry!
Thanks for your CYA of my patoot.
Great post, with good info.
Appreciate it. Thanks, Lona!
Someone who posted at Democratic Underground was upset and concerned that an unmasked (presumably MAGAt) had gotten right in his (masked) face and asked “What are you afraid of?” I posted a reply including the comment that it was a blessing I’m not going out, because if someone did that to me I would probably reply, “Idiots like you.”
Lona, I can’t thank you enough for doing this, and keeping it up. I hope that soon CoronaCheck will be able to address the issue of blood clotting – the one concept about which I really don’t know what to believe.
Very well said, as usual, Lona!
Can we deed an infected canine coronavirus infected dawg to criminal Fuhrer Trump? It may not infext humans, but calling Trump* human is too big a stretch for me!
In times of crisis, rumors and B.S. are thicker than thieves. No surprise that fiction about COVID-19 is everywhere due to a) wishful thinking and b) scapegoat-hunting. Lies travel around the world while facts are still getting their runners on.
Appreciate the honest information that you listed in this posting, It’s frustrating to even listen to the bullsh*t that tRump speaks about the Covid-19 pandemic.
He ignores and plays down all true facts/findings that the medical specialists speak about, including their warnings too.
He’s saying today, that he’s winding down the Covid-19 task force. pEnce is saying it could be by May 31.
I would be over happy if tRump would keep his 2 cents out of it totally. We don’t need or want his lies.
Thanks Lona
Cancelling the COVID-19 task force so soon probably means that the American administration may adopt the Brasilian method of fighting the pandemic by stopping reporting on it and pretending everything is well. This would mean nobody knows how many cases or deaths there are nor how many new cases each day and what the reproduction is. The COVID-19 will have the same aftermath as the Spanish flu in 1918.
Such fertile ground for asshole bastards to play in!
there’s a huge difference between the quality of masks needed by health workers & those caring for probable & confirmed patients … and the cloth masks being used by the general public.
For those in close contact with the sick – caring for them – they need high quality (medical/ surgical) masks, to protect the user from infection. And they should have top priority for supply of such masks.
For everyday life (especially in situations where people come in close contact), the primary utility of the masks is to protect others from any infection one might be carrying … and, provided the mask hasn’t become damp from one’s breath, the cloth stops a reasonable amount of droplets from reaching the air around one. (A new study suggests that adding a layer of stocking over the cloth masks increases the filter effectiveness. It pulls the edges closer …) The level gained of protection from others in most public circumstances is limited … Hence, WHO reluctance to advise general mask use as a rule.
If one does use a mask extensively, there are a number of cautions to respect … how to put the mask on, how to wear it correctly, avoiding touching the mask once in place until removing it (& cleaning hands after touching it, before touching one’s face), removing once damp – or after 4 hours maximum use if it’s not damp sooner, how to remove it, how to handle between removal & cleaning it (a sealed bag), washing conditions, how to dry safely …. Without respecting these cautions,under normal public conditions one is safer respecting good distances, cleaning hands frequently, without a mask.
I couldn’t agree more, Evelyn. You’ve summed up perfectly why the Australian government hasn’t made the wearing of face masks mandatory, but instead strongly policed keeping to the social-distancing rules. The fines are very substantial, I can assure you.