Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here.
Agence France-Presse, August 20.
Claim that CDC added flu and pneumonia cases to its COVID-19 death count.
False
They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say.
-- Reuters, August 31
It likely provides protection for both.
-- Associated Press, August 27
No. While mosquitoes can spread some diseases, most notably malaria, experts say COVID-19 is not among them.
-- Associated Press, August 25
In many infections, the immune system builds so-called germinal centers in the spleen or lymph nodes to train cells that make antibodies, but the structures fail to develop in some COVID-19 cases.
-- Science, August 25
COVID-19 could be a turning point in climate activism—but only if we play it right.
-- The Walrus. August 24
-- Stat, August 23
Without understanding the lingering illness that some patients experience, we can’t understand the pandemic.
-- The Atlantic, August 19
Although there have been few data on whether convalescent plasma definitely improves outcomes for people with other diseases, it was logical to test the treatment against COVID-19 when the outbreak began. But researchers have struggled to nail down its effectiveness in the middle of the pandemic, says Michael Joyner, an anaesthesiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
-- Nature, August 19
The immune system is no wimp. When pathogens cause illness, it kicks into high gear. Cells work together to tag, kill and gobble up invaders as they fight the infection.
-- Stat, May 5
Eight ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
-- Nature, April 28