Search Results for covid-19

No vaccine contains strains of both the flu and the virus that causes COVID-19; COVID-19 is not the flu

COVID-19 and the flu are both viral respiratory illnesses, however they are caused by very different viruses that belong to two distinct and separate families of viruses. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 is not a strain of flu. Although flu shots are now being distributed in preparation for the upcoming 2020-2021 flu season, the vaccines are not mixed with a COVID-19 vaccine. No vaccine is available against COVID-19 as of September 2020.

The number of COVID-19 cases reported is based on a highly specific diagnostic test for COVID-19; no confusion with flu or common cold is possible

Determining the spread of COVID-19 relies mainly on the detection of confirmed cases. Cases are confirmed using PCR tests which specifically detect the presence of genetic material from SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, and which do not detect viruses that cause the flu and the common cold. Therefore, even though the flu and the common cold can produce symptoms similar to a mild case of COVID-19, cases of the flu and the common cold would not be included in the reported numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

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%

It is important to distinguish between a person who is infected and a person who is contagious. PCR tests with a high level of sensitivity can produce a positive result even though a person only harbors trace amounts of virus or even dead virus. Hence a positive test result without information about viral load is not of practical value in determining if an infected person should self-isolate and whether their contacts should be traced. However, while a positive test may not tell us whether the person is contagious, it can tell us whether the person is infected. It is therefore appropriate to count positive PCR tests as COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 test kits were not purchased in 2017 and 2018; claim is based on mislabeled data

Test kits for the virus that causes COVID-19 were only developed in 2020, since scientists only discovered the virus in January 2020. It is impossible for scientists to develop a test kit for a virus that is undiscovered. The claim that COVID-19 test kits were being sold in 2017 and 2018 is based on an error in data labeling on the World Integrated Trade Solutions (WITS) website, a resource that allows users to access and retrieve information on trade and tariffs. The error has since been corrected.

Masks offer only partial protection from the virus that causes COVID-19, but their effectiveness can be enhanced with other measures like physical distancing

It is an oversimplification to claim that “either masks work or they don’t”, because the underlying assumption is that face masks must work perfectly, and if they do not, then they don’t work at all. On the contrary, the risks of disease exposure and the degree of protection one can achieve from different safety measures lie on a continuum. Even though face masks do not confer 100% protection to the wearer or to others, scientific evidence has demonstrated that face masks reduce the transmission of viral respiratory infections like COVID-19 to some degree. Therefore, it remains important for people to continue to practice physical distancing and proper hand hygiene as the combination of the three measures greatly enhances the effectiveness of any one measure used alone.

False claim shared by President Trump that only 6% of CDC-reported deaths are from COVID-19 is based on flawed reasoning

Cause of death is defined as a medical condition that triggers a chain of clinical events that leads to the death of a patient. In contrast, comorbidities are medical conditions, either pre-existing or resulting from the primary medical condition, that weaken a patient’s resistance to injuries or diseases and indirectly contribute to their death. Many patients who died from COVID-19 had comorbidities, suggesting that these conditions increased their likelihood of death from COVID-19. For these patients, COVID-19 remains their cause of death, as many would not have died from their comorbidities.

A vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 would be useful even if the survival rate from COVID-19 is high

Due to the high transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, hundreds of thousands of people have died despite the high survival rate of COVID-19. A vaccine would limit transmissibility and thereby reduce the total number of deaths. Furthermore, by reducing the rate of infection or perhaps simply disease severity, a vaccine could also reduce non-lethal yet potentially permanent conditions, such as damage to the heart, lungs, and other tissues. Finally, a vaccine could slow the propagation of the virus through a population by helping to achieve herd immunity, which protects vulnerable persons such as the elderly and immunocompromised. Vaccines confer a range of important benefits, even for diseases with a high average rate of survival.

Altered image falsely suggests that restaurant staff in Maine are required to wear dog cone-style face visors to protect against COVID-19

Restaurant staff in Maine are not required to wear dog cone-style visors as part of COVID-19 precautionary measures. The updated prevention checklists issued by Maine Governor Janet Mills’ administration only require staff who have opted to use face shields instead of face masks to wear them upside down. A photo of a restaurant staff member appearing to wear a dog cone-style face visor at work is altered.

Listicle of “facts” about COVID-19 contains numerous inaccurate and misleading claims

In 2020, more deaths have occurred than expected relative to previous years (i.e., excess deaths), even more than the number of excess deaths that occurred during the particularly severe flu season of 2017-2018. Countries like Sweden and Japan that did not implement lockdowns have managed to control the outbreak of COVID-19, but this may be due to unique cultural factors such as the voluntary practice of physical distancing and mask-wearing. Published studies have shown that these measures are effective at significantly reducing virus transmission.

Current COVID-19 mortality rate does not predict the future probability of dying from the disease

The COVID-19 cause-specific mortality rate is the proportion of people who have died from the disease relative to the entire population. It is sometimes used to compare mortality between populations of different sizes. It also represents the likelihood that a randomly selected person in the population who was alive at the start of the pandemic already died of the disease. However, it cannot be used to predict an individual’s likelihood of dying from COVID-19 in the future, given the dynamic nature of the epidemic and that every individual’s risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19 is different.