Does a paucity of "essential workers" among COVID-19 victims mean the outbreak is overblown? No, that's not true. By definition, such workers tend to be among society's healthiest people. And the posting offers no evidence to support its asser
Publication: coronavirus
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pelosi Was NOT In Wuhan, China, In 2019 Ahead Of COVID-19 Outbreak; Did NOT Sabotage Now-Signed Trade Deal
Was U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Wuhan, China, in time to release the novel coronavirus and sabotage the U.S.-China trade deal? No, neither are true. The photo of her with a Chinese offical that is being used to make the allegations is f
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NOT All Elective Or Non-Emergency Surgeries Banned In The US; Exceptions For Medical Reasons Allowed In Most States
Is it true that all non-emergency or so-called elective surgeries are banned due to the lockdowns put in place to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus? No, that's a massive misreading of executive orders to step up priority patient
Snopes→ Court Allows Arkansas Ban on Surgical Abortions Due to Virus
A federal appeals court allowed Arkansas to ban most surgical abortions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trey Gowdy Did NOT Go On Rant Claiming Coronavirus Shutdowns Were ‘Fishy,’ ‘Well-Timed’ And ‘Costing Our Economy Billions’
Did former U.S. Rep. and current Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy go on a lengthy rant, complaining that the COVID-19 shutdowns across the United States are overblown and "fishy"? No, that's not true. A tirade attributed to Gowdy was not writte
Truth or Fiction?→ COVID-19 ‘Sacrifice the Weak’ Reopen Tennessee Protest Sign
On April 22 2020, what appeared to be a screen capture of a WKRN-TV segment about a “Reopen TN (Tennessee)” anti-lockdown protest went viral on Twitter, showing a protester with a sign that read, “Sacrifice the weak, re-open TN”
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dr. Birx Did NOT Say Lack Of COVID-19 Testing Was Because It Was Not Profitable For Private Labs
Did Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the Coronavirus Reponse team in the Trump administration, "let it slip" that the lack of COVID-19 testing was because it wasn't profitable enough for private labs? No, that is not true. Birx said during
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: White House Reporters Joking About Coronavirus Being A Hoax, That Vaccine Exists NOT Evidence Of Conspiracy
Does a video of hot mic comments between a Fox News reporter and a New York Times photographer reveal that COVID-19 is a hoax, or prove that there is a secret vaccine? No, that's not true, according to the journalists who told The Associated P
Snopes→ Officials: 7 Virus Cases May Be Related to In-Person Voting
Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who may have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7, 2020 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread con
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a ‘Hot Mic’ at Coronavirus White House Briefing Reveal a COVID-19 Conspiracy?
On April 20 2020, purported “hot mic” footage from a White House coronavirus press briefing appeared and quickly began circulating — involving discussion of what seemed to be fudged case-fatality rate numbers as well as the existenc
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘At $50 a Test It Wasn’t Enough … at $100 It Is’
A quote from the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator about its response to the COVID-19 pandemic has begun circulating online among social media users criticizing it for its implications regarding for-profit healthcare. The quote has been use
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘They Opened Up Florida Beaches and Now They Have 1400 New Cases Overnight!’ Facebook Meme
A controversial decision to open Florida’s beaches on April 17 2020 led to a rash of national criticism, and an April 18 2020 Facebook post warned that 1,400 Floridians became ill specifically because of the newly-opened beaches (archived here)
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Valley County, Montana, Did NOT Mandate Pink Arm Bands For All To Enter Stores; Did Revise Confusing Flier
Did Valley County, Montana, government officials order people to wear "government-issued" pink armbands, which "denote the customer has been in the area more than 14 days and submitted to quarantine protocol?" No, that's misleading. the Valley
Truth or Fiction?→ Disinformation Linking COVID-19 to Hemoglobin Spreads to Spanish-Speaking Readers
The conspiracy theory pushing the idea that COVID-19 binds itself to patients’ hemoglobin has spread beyond English-language websites, and it is now targeting readers on social media and news organizations in Spanish. This version of the claim,
Snopes→ AP: Reports Suggest Many Have Had Coronavirus with No Symptoms
A flood of new research suggests that far more people have had the coronavirus without any symptoms, fueling hope that it will turn out to be much less lethal than originally feared.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: U.S. NOT ‘Sneakily’ Using Coronavirus As Cover to Pass Bill; Uncertain If It ‘Will Stop End-To-End Encryption, Allow Officials To See All Private Messages, Listen To All Calls’
Is the U.S. government using the cover of the coronavirus pandemic to remove end-to-end encryption so officials would be able to listen to everyone's calls and see everyone's private messages? No, that does not appear to be the case: A controv
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Real Plague’ Anti-Semitic Sign Spotted at Ohio Anti-Lockdown COVID-19 Pandemic Protest
On April 18 2020, a disturbing image of a purported protest sign from coronavirus anti-lockdown protests in Columbus, Ohio began circulating on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit: Columbus, Ohio, April 18, 2020… pic.twitter.com/Q0ryJp5pOG — W
Truth or Fiction?→ Did News Outlets Publish Old Photographs of Crowded Jacksonville, Florida Beaches in April 2020?
On April 18 2020, multiple news organizations published photographs purportedly showing newly-reopened beaches in Jacksonville, Florida, in articles with headlines such as, “Jacksonville beach packed as Florida coronavirus cases hit recordR
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Viral Meme Advising How To ‘Legally Decline’ A Vaccine Is NOT Accurate
Can a U.S. citizen "legally decline" a government-ordered vaccine by asking if it contains "MRC-5" or a possibility of an "iatrogenic reaction"? No, that's not true: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government can force vaccinations, and
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Chase Michael Morris Did NOT Predict The Coronavirus In A 2015 Facebook Post
Did a Facebook user named Chase Michael Morris predict in 2015 that a virus would hit in 2020? No, that's not true: the post in question was originally about buying shoes at Walmart, but it was edited on March 25, 2020, and changed into a viru
Snopes→ Scant Testing in US Migration System Risks Spreading Virus
The Trump administration's failure to test all but a small percentage of detained immigrants for the novel coronavirus may be helping it spread through the United States' sprawling system of detention centers and then to Central America and elsewhere a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump Tweet On Swine Flu Death Toll and Obamacare Website Is Misleading
Was President Trump correct in stating on Twitter that 17,000 people died during the swine flu, or H1N1, pandemic during 2009-2010? And does a second claim in the post -- that the Obamacare website cost $5 billion -- hold up to scrutiny? No, b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Some Hospitals Compensated For COVID-19 Patients Under Stimulus, But NO Evidence NYC Hospitals Inflating Coronavirus Numbers
Are hospitals compensated 15% more for COVID-19 patients under the stimulus package -- and, with that financial incentive, are New York City hospitals inflating their coronavirus numbers? No, this is misleading: According to the bill passed by
Snopes→ TV Doctors Oz and Phil Explaining Controversial Fox Comments
Two television doctors — Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil — are finding themselves trying to explain comments they made about coronavirus restrictions during appearances on Fox News Channel.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Donald Trump Criticize ‘Obama’s Handling of This Pandemic’ in November 2009?
In mid-April 2020, screenshots of a tweet attributed to United States President Donald Trump on November 23 2009 began circulating, in which he purportedly criticized then-President Barack Obama’s handling of the H1N1 (also called swine flu) pan
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump NEVER Tweeted in 2009 About Americans Dying in Pandemic
Did Donald Trump claim in a 2009 tweet that he would "never let thousands of Americans die from a pandemic while in office" amidst the so-called swine flu, or H1N1, pandemic during the Barack Obama presidency? No, that's not true: A fake tweet
Snopes→ Facebook to Warn Users Who ‘Liked’ Coronavirus Hoaxes
Facebook will let you know if you shared or interacted with dangerous coronavirus misinformation on the site, the latest in a string of aggressive efforts the social media giant is taking to contain an outbreak of viral falsehoods.
Snopes→ Trump Gives Governors 3-Phase Plan to Reopen Economy
President Donald Trump gave governors a road map for recovering from the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic, laying out "a phased and deliberate approach" to restoring normal activity in places that have strong testing and are seeing a decrease
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Amazon’s Alexa Does NOT Say ‘The Government’ Released Coronavirus
Does Amazon's Alexa speaker say that "the government" released the coronavirus? No, that's not true: The Alexa app/device does not say that the government -- any government -- planned, created and released COVID-19, which has resulted in more
Truth or Fiction?→ Meme Comparing ‘Flattening the Curve’ of COVID-19 to Deploying a Parachute Goes Viral
In mid-April 2020, a meme appeared on Facebook, a “very appropriate analogy” about “flattening the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic amid growing calls to lift social distancing measures (occasionally in the form of protests). Ve
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pelosi Did NOT Delete Tweet Of Video Urging Visits To Chinatown During COVID-19
Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delete a February 24, 2020, video of herself from Twitter in which she encouraged people to visit Chinatown in San Francisco? No, that's not true: she never sent out a tweet of the video despite President Trump c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Medical Evidence That ‘Just a Few Drops’ Of Hydrogen Peroxide In The Ear Boosts Immunity To Viruses
Will a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in the ear canal pass through the eardrum to the blood and fight off viruses, including presumably COVID-19? No, there is no medical evidence to substantiate the claim. The eardrum is watertight, and neith
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: A Barcode Does NOT Tell You A Product’s Country Of Origin
Can a barcode tell you what a product's country of origin is? No, that's not true: That claim is misleading. A barcode for a product really only reveals where the person or company that purchased the barcode is from; it does not reveal the whe
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the World Health Organization Tweet That There Was ‘No Clear Evidence of Human-to-Human Transmission of the Novel #Coronavirus’ on January 14 2020?
After United States President Donald Trump announced that he had discontinued funding to the World Health Organization, and presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway subsequently blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the group on April 15 2020, a tweet attrib
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: March 25 Death Count Numbers Meme Highly Misleading About Coronavirus Pandemic
Do numbers in a photo about worldwide COVID-19 deaths, and other leading causes of death, show that the coronavirus pandemic is a "con" that has been blown far out of proportion? No, that's not true: The picture minimizes the number of deaths
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michigan Governor Did NOT Violate State’s Social Distancing Order; TV Station Used File Footage
Did Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violate the state's social distancing order at the same time she was signing the stay-at-home orders? No, that's not true: A TV news report used file footage from January 2019 of a completely different bill s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Did NOT Confess To Lying About COVID-19 Death Numbers
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confess to lying about COVID-19 death numbers? No, that's not true: The headline inaccurately suggests that the CDC made a "confession." Instead, a viral video offered one doctor's allegation
Snopes→ California to Give Cash Payments to Immigrants Hurt by Virus
California will be the first state to give cash payments to immigrants living in the country illegally who are hurt by the coronavirus, offering $500 apiece to 150,000 adults who were left out of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package approved by Congress.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Man ‘Die Twice’ From COVID-19?
Conspiracy-hungry social media users possibly itching for a chance to slam what they call “fake news” shared a morbid attempt at a joke on Facebook — and in doing so, ended up making light of an actual death resulting from the COVID-
Truth or Fiction?→ Viral ‘Ohio State House COVID-19 Protest’ Image
On April 14 2020, images of a large crowd gathered in Ohio to protest COVID-19 social distancing measures (while clearly violating those measures) circulated on social media: Trump supporters protest against #Quarantine policies in Ohio. #Covid_19