Did the Denver Broncos sign Colin Kaepernick to play quarterback on Sunday, November 29, 2020, after all of the team's quarterbacks were ordered into quarantine for COVID-19 exposure? No, that's not true: The same NFL COVID-19 protocols t
Publication: coronavirus
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Masks, Gloves, Vaccines, And Synthetic Hand Soaps Do NOT Suppress Your Immune System
Do masks, gloves, vaccines, and synthetic handsoaps suppress human immune systems? No, that's not true: Public health experts and medical research say the opposite is the case and the claims were made with no evidence in a meme that sprea
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Medical Research Has NOT Shown Distance Does Not Matter In COVID-19 Transmission; Research Does NOT Contradict Air Transmission Hypotheses
Does medical research show COVID-19 is not transmitted in the air and that infection risk is unaffected by distance? No, neither claim is true: The claims ignore the accumulating recent evidence that airborne coronavirus is the major mode
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Johns Hopkins Student Paper Retracted Because CDC Data DOES Show Excess Deaths Caused By Covid-19
Is it true the lethality of COVID-19 is being overblown by government mortality data, and was a Johns Hopkins University student paper censored when it posted a story about that claim? No, that is not true. There is no evidence that offic
Health Feedback→ No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause more severe disease; antibody-dependent enhancement has not been observed in clinical trials
SUMMARY A Facebook post claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine will lead to more severe disease, was published in November 2020 and went viral on the social media platform. Similar claims have also been published in other social media posts, like this o
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Does NOT Contain Nanoparticles Never Used Before In Vaccines; Ingredients Are NOT Lethal
Is it true that Pfizer's vaccine candidate to battle COVID-19 is made and stored in such a way that scores of people could be severely sickened or even killed by its use? No, that is a conspiracy theory not supported by scientific studies
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Many Studies Find Masks DO Work Against The Spread Of COVID-19
Do many studies find that cloth masks don't stop viruses like COVID? No, that's not true: An article making that claim does not cite any recent or specific studies showing masks don't work. To the contrary, the Centers for Disease Control
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Did NOT Issue This Document of Thanksgiving Rules
Did Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf finalize and issue on October 27, 2020, a list of 13 rules for Thanksgiving household visits? No, that's not true: The document offered in support of the claim is not an official state document. It is design
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pennsylvania Has NOT Banned Alcohol
Has Pennsylvania banned alcohol? No, that's not true, with one specific and limited exception: State officials banned the sales of alcohol for on-site consumption in bars and restaurants from 5 p.m. Thanksgiving-eve to Thanksgiving mornin
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Vaccines Are NOT Linked To Autism; Science Shows No Causation
Are vaccines definitively linked to autism? No, that's not true: While some people believe this to be the case -- and are spreading their belief online in advance of release of vaccines to battle COVID-19 -- it remains just that, belief.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The CDC Website DOES Show Age And Other Conditions For People Who Died From COVID-19
Is it true ages and pre-existing medical conditions for U.S. residents who died from COVID-19 are not available? No, that's not true: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website shows ages, additional medical conditi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Statistics Show COVID-19 Is NOT ‘The Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated On An Unsuspecting Public’ And Is NOT ‘Just Another Bad Flu’
Is Canadian pathologist Dr. Roger Hodkinson correct when he asserts that COVID-19 is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public" and "just another bad flu"? No, neither of those claims is true: Data from the CDC show th
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: It Is NOT True That The U.S. Government Has ‘Never Forced Anyone To Stop Smoking’ To Save Lives
Is it true that the U.S. government has "never forced anyone to stop smoking" to save lives? No, that's not true: There are many places where smoking is prohibited to preserve the health of others. The claims appeared from a post (archive
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dr. Anthony Fauci Was NOT Indicted For Treason, Conspiring With The Enemy And Fraud
Was Dr. Anthony Fauci indicted for treason, conspiring with the enemy and fraud? No, that's not true. A video posted by David Zublick on his "Truth Unsealed" Facebook page in May 2020 has gone viral, claiming that Fauci was indicted for c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: New Mask Study Did NOT Prove ‘Mask Wearing Basically Doesn’t Do A Damn Thing’
Did a Danish study show mask-wearing has a statistically insignificant impact on COVID-19 infection and "basically doesn't do a damn thing"? No, that's not true: Both the study authors and an editorial in the journal where it was publishe
FactCheck.org→ Meme Distorts Facts on Annual Death Statistics
Quick Take An image circulating on social media erroneously claims that the total number of deaths in the U.S. this year is significantly down compared to previous years. The meme — which implies COVID-19 restrictions weren’t needed —
Health Feedback→ Danish face mask study did not show that masks were ineffective at reducing spread of COVID-19; study was underpowered and results were inconclusive
REVIEW Several reports on the findings of a face mask study conducted in Denmark[1], which was published in the scientific journal Annals of Internal Medicine, went viral on Facebook within a day of publication, receiving a total of more than 18,000
Health Feedback→ Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns and wearing face masks, are effective measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission, contrary to claims in viral video
REVIEW This video, published on 13 November 2020 by the student activism organization Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), features the historian Tom Woods in a 7 November symposium in Texas. In it, Woods presents the COVID-19 pandemic and the public
Poynter→ Global fact-checkers find strength in numbers amid dual challenges of politics and COVID-19
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute’s Accountability Project. Sign up here. All together now Fact-checking is a form of journalism, a
FactCheck.org→ Biden Adviser Didn’t Propose Requiring COVID-19 Vaccine for Food Stamps
Quick Take A report from two dozen experts — including a doctor named to President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board — recommended using existing social service programs to connect people with COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Th
Health Feedback→ Article claiming that “masks don’t work” misleads readers by inaccurately interpreting a withdrawn study and a published study conducted on U.S. Marine Corps recruits
REVIEW This article, written by Daniel Horowitz and published by The Blaze on 16 November 2020, claims that “masks don’t work.” To support its claim, it cites the withdrawal of a preprint (a study that has not yet been peer-reviewed or publish
Logically→ Sweden has admitted its coronavirus immunity predictions were wrong.
The number of cases has been continuously increasing in Sweden since Sept. The chief epidemiologist said the country is experiencing a second wave.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: First Effective Vaccine Probably WILL Stop Community Spread Of COVID-19, As Vaccines Do
Does the first study of an effective COVID-19 vaccine show that it only reduces symptoms without stopping transmission? No, that's not true: The transmission part of the study is not complete, so it's too soon to say, either way. But, amo
Health Feedback→ Although fetal cell lines are used to grow viruses for some COVID-19 vaccines, the cells are not part of the vaccines
REVIEW A Facebook video published on 15 November 2020 claims that “aborted fetal tissue” is present in the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and that the vaccine can change a person’s DNA. Shared by the anti-vacci
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Aborted Male Fetus Is NOT Confirmed In COVID-19 Vaccine
Has it been confirmed that cells from an aborted male fetus are in the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: AstraZeneca's ChAdOx1 vaccine candidate has been tested using MRC-5 cells, which are replications of lung tissue cells taken fro
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ticketmaster Did NOT Announce A Plan For Mandatory COVID Vaccine ID To Attend Concerts
Did Ticketmaster announce a plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccine ID to attend concerts or other live events? No, that's not true: Ticketmaster, and other companies, have been working to design systems to safeguard fan safety at local venue
Poynter→ The CoronaVirusFacts Alliance will get specialized support from the Paris Peace Forum
This is an addition to a story that ran earlier, updated after the project won an international award. You can read the original version here. The CoronaVirusFacts Alliance was one of 10 projects selected to be supported for one year by the Scale-Up Co
Health Feedback→ The U.S. sees record numbers of daily new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in November 2020
REVIEW Scientists and news outlets sounded the alarm on the rising number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the U.S in the beginning of November 2020 (see here, here, and here). A 12 November 2020 tweet by NBC News journalist Ali Ve
Poynter→ The CoronaVirusFacts Alliance gets a global showcase at the Paris Peace Forum
The CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, a collection of 99 fact-checking organizations from over 70 countries that produced over 9,000 COVID-19 fact-checks in 43 different languages, received global recognition from the virtually assembled audience at the thi
Health Feedback→ Claim that high PCR test sensitivity inflates COVID-19 cases wrongly conflates the issue of contagiousness with the presence of infection
REVIEW An article published by Just the News on 8 November 2020 claims that “many patients may have been receiving false-positive test results” and that “the numbers of COVID-19 cases reported by public health authorities and major COVID track
Poynter→ Are we ready for the next wave of misinformation about a COVID-19 vaccine?
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute’s Accountability Project. Sign up here. The next disinformation challenge Pfizer’s announcement
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ben Carson Has NOT Announced He Is Taking Oleander For His COVID-19
Did cabinet secretary Ben Carson say he is treating his COVID-19 with Oleander? No, that's not true: The secretary of Housing and Urban Development has said he is taking "therapeutics" but did not specify what he is taking. The oleander c
Health Feedback→ Wearing face masks helps reduce the spread of COVID-19, but it only confers partial protection and should be combined with additional public health measures
REVIEW An article published by The Federalist on 29 October 2020 claims that face masks are ineffective at reducing the spread of COVID-19. In support of its claim, the article cites several scientific studies and shows 12 graphs comparing COVID-19
Health Feedback→ A rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths starting in September 2020 contradicts the claim by Michael Yeadon that “the pandemic is fundamentally over in the U.K.”
REVIEW This video by talkRADIO, a national talk radio station in the U.K., was uploaded to YouTube on 5 November 2020 and went viral on Facebook, receiving more than 93,000 views. The video features a conversation between talk show host Julia Hartle
Health Feedback→ The number of COVID-19 deaths over the entire pandemic is higher in the U.S. than Europe, even when controlling for population size
REVIEW This article, published by Issues and Insights at the end of October 2020, claims that “coronavirus cases are now exploding in Europe at rates far higher than the U.S.,” and, “the share of positive test results is higher in Europe, as i
Logically→ Trump said, that the deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics.
Trumps' accusation that the FDA was stalling enrollment in clinical trials was based on no evidence. The agency does not oversee trial enrollment.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Covid-19 Pandemic Was NOT Planned By Bill Gates And 5G Does NOT Cause It
Was the COVID-19 pandemic pre-planned with help from billionaire Bill Gates and have the illnesses associated with it been spread by 5G technology? No, that's not true: The claims made in the "Covid-19 Genocide of 2020" video are a rehash
Health Feedback→ Claim that mouthwash could reduce the spread of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed by clinical trials in humans in
REVIEW Articles such as this one claiming that “mouthwashes could help curb COVID-19” circulated on social media in October 2020, receiving more than 27,000 interactions on Instagram and Facebook in one week according to the social media analyti
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Virus NOT Man-made And Vaccine NOT Forced On Unwilling
Is the U.S. pushing an under-tested, dangerous coronavirus vaccine on unwilling people as part of a depopulation agenda? And was the virus man-made and weaponized in U.S. and Chinese labs? No, these claims are untrue. There are no plans t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: PTFE Sprayed On Blue Masks Does NOT Cause Symptoms Similar To COVID-19
Do blue masks cause symptoms similar to COVID-19 because they are sprayed with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)? No, that's not true: Medical experts said only some masks are sprayed with PTFE, but those that are would not be a concern at t