Claim reviews
Misinterpreted New York Times report leads to false claim that the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is inflated by up to 90%
CLAIM
COVID-19 case numbers are inflated due to PCR test sensitivity; “90% of positive COVID-19 tests should be negative”
SOURCE: Liz Wheeler, Steve Deace, One America News Network, The Blaze
Published: 10 Sep 2020
VERDICT
Adequate immunization and improved sanitation together protect against infection from both wild and vaccine-derived poliovirus
CLAIM
“UN Forced to Admit Gates-funded Vaccine is Causing Polio Outbreak in Africa“
SOURCE: Anonymous, 21st Century Wire
Published: 10 Sep 2020
VERDICT
COVID-19 test kits were not purchased in 2017 and 2018; claim is based on mislabeled data
CLAIM
“World Bank website shows COVID-19 testing kits purchased by countries in 2017 and in 2018”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Ben Swann, 4chan, Facebook
Published: 08 Sep 2020
VERDICT
Masks offer only partial protection from the virus that causes COVID-19, but their effectiveness can be enhanced with other measures like physical distancing
CLAIM
“Either masks work or they don’t”; “I don’t understand the safety concern with voting in person. Your mask works, right?”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 04 Sep 2020
VERDICT
A person’s response to vaccination is not associated with birthmarks or the presence of mutations in a gene involved with vitamin B9 production
CLAIM
Birthmarks are indicators of the MTHFR gene; “When people have MTHFR their chances of vaccine reactions increase because they cannot detox the toxins from the vaccines”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 03 Sep 2020
VERDICT
False claim shared by President Trump that only 6% of CDC-reported deaths are from COVID-19 is based on flawed reasoning
CLAIM
only 6% of all the 153,504 deaths recorded actually died from Covid, the rest had other serious illnesses
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 31 Aug 2020
VERDICT
Human DNA does not produce a positive result on the RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2
CLAIM
“WHO coronavirus PCR test primer sequence is found in all human DNA”; “this means that the WHO test kits should find a positive result in all humans”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Piece of Mindful
Published: 31 Aug 2020
VERDICT
A vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 would be useful even if the survival rate from COVID-19 is high
CLAIM
With the survival rate of COVID-19 close to 100% without a vaccine, what exactly will the purpose of the new vaccine be?
SOURCE: Facebook User, Facebook
Published: 28 Aug 2020
VERDICT
People infected with SARS-CoV-2 can transmit the virus to others, even if they do not show symptoms of the disease and are not considered sick
CLAIM
“The greatest trick the CDC ever pulled was convincing the world you can be sick without having symptoms”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 27 Aug 2020
VERDICT
Altered image falsely suggests that restaurant staff in Maine are required to wear dog cone-style face visors to protect against COVID-19
CLAIM
“Governor of Maine orders restaurant staff to wear COVID visors like dog cones”
SOURCE: Sherri Tenpenny, Paul Joseph Watson, Twitter, Summit News
Published: 27 Aug 2020
VERDICT