A viral Facebook post makes the false claim that the nasal swab test for COVID-19 damages the “blood-brain barrier” and can therefore lead to brain infections. Medical experts say the swab test is completely safe.
Within hours after his passing, Facebook posts falsely claimed that former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of colon cancer, not COVID-19. Cain did battle and survive cancer in 2006, but his staff confirmed online that his death was due to the novel coronavirus.
As Florida’s COVID-19 case count rose to the second-highest in the U.S. in July, a former challenger for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat falsely claimed on social media that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had made a “mistake” and subsequently reduced Florida’s count by 79,000 cases. There was no such adjustment.
President Donald Trump, at a July 28 briefing, made a few false and misleading statements about COVID-19.
A widely shared video, featuring a doctor falsely claiming hydroxychloroquine is a “cure” for COVID-19, ignited an online storm that resulted in the video being pulled by social media platforms. There is no known cure for COVID-19, and current scientific evidence hasn’t found that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment.
An image on social media falsely purports to show a tweet from Donald Trump in 2009, saying he “would never let thousands of Americans die from a pandemic while in office.” There is no evidence Trump ever posted that tweet.
In promoting the reopening of schools this fall, Trump administration officials have, at times, inaccurately described the evidence on how COVID-19 affects children.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the over-the-top claim that if the Trump administration “had done its job, the virus wouldn’t come” to New York. Cuomo pointed to a study that suggested government officials could have better mitigated the spread of the coronavirus in New York City, but it didn’t say they could have stopped it.
A viral video misrepresents scientific papers and the reasons for wearing face masks to claim that they are ineffective in mitigating transmission of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that masks may help prevent the spread of the disease.
A popular post on social media pages for conspiracy theorists claims that a mobile COVID-19 testing station bears a logo that depicts an ancient deity of death. It actually shows an aardvark, which is the name of the company that designs and manufactures the trucks.