Coronavirus: The Infodemic - April 21 - Polygraph.info

Posted: 22 Apr 2020 02:32 PM PDT

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

Daily Debunk

Claim: Phil "Dr. Phil" McGraw said there are 360,000 annual deaths in the U.S. from swimming pools. He's since said he was citing the worldwide number and "misspoke."

Verdict: False

Read the full story: "Dr. Phil's faulty point about the coronavirus and swimming pools," PolitiFact.

Social Media Disinfo

Circulating on social media: Claim that Microsoft owns patent "666," which involves inserting microchips into people to mine their activity for cryptocurrency purposes.

Verdict: Mostly False

Read the full story at: "Does Microsoft Own Patent '666' About Implanting Microchips in People?" -- Snopes

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

A New Doctor Faces the Coronavirus in Queens
A front-line physician at Elmhurst Hospital sees how closely socioeconomic status is tied to the disease, and tries to help patients who are dying without their families.
-- The New Yorker, April 20

Coronavirus myths explored
As the coronavirus continues to make the news, a host of untruths has surrounded the topic. In this special feature, we address some of these myths and conspiracies.
-- Medical News Today, April 16

Vaccine Hesitancy and Pro-Kremlin Opportunism
Much has changed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since late January 2020, the anti-vax trend in pro-Kremlin media is no longer limited to social media.
-- EUvsDisinfo, April 16

Coronavirus pandemic threatens to take crushing toll on rural areas, data show
Experts say the pandemic could accentuate the urban-rural divide in health measures, just as it has shined a light on other existing health disparities, killing disproportionate numbers of Black Americans, for example.
-- Stat, April 16

Criticized for Pandemic Response, Trump Tries Shifting Blame to the W.H.O.
The president said he would halt funding for the organization because it caused "so much death" in the way it "pushed Chinese misinformation," though he himself effusively praised China's handling of the virus.
-- New York Times, April 14

How Do We Exit The Shutdown? Hire An Army Of Public Health Workers
[T]here's broad agreement that core public health work — the ability to find people with the virus and prevent them from passing it to others — will be essential to reopening schools and businesses.
-- Kaiser Health News, April 13

Dr. Fauci Says He Doesn't Think Americans Should Ever Shake Hands Again to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus
The leading infectious disease expert on President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force told the Wall Street Journal that an end to handshaking would be good for reducing future transmissions of the novel coronavirus and would also cut the number of influenza cases.
-- Newsweek, April 8

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

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, March 30