Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here.
When it comes to protecting against COVID-19 transmission, neck gaiters are worse than wearing no mask at all.
False
Claim that Singapore has “banned” people from buying fruit and vegetables imported from the U.S. over fears it could be contaminated with the novel coronavirus.
Misleading
We last wrote about COVID-19 symptoms at the end of April. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added several new symptoms of possible infection: congestion, runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
-- MITMedical, August 11
Unless Americans use the dwindling weeks between now and the onset of “indoor weather” to tamp down transmission in the country, this winter could be Dickensianly bleak, public health experts warn.
-- Stat, August 10
Scientists know that vaccines engineered to protect the public from influenza, hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies can be less effective in obese adults than in the general population, leaving them more vulnerable to infection and illness. There is little reason to believe, obesity researchers say, that COVID-19 vaccines will be any different.
-- Kaiser Health News, August 6
This coronavirus is here for the long haul — here’s what scientists predict for the next months and years.
-- Nature, August 5
These days, every cough, sneeze or headache makes you wonder: Could it be Covid-19?
-- New York Times, August 5
Some early public health messages about COVID-19 have been overturned
-- Scientific American, August 4
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