In July 14 remarks in the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump made a series of false, misleading and unsupported statements about the novel coronavirus and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s position on it.
Social media posts claim that Betsy DeVos said “only” 0.02% of children are “likely to die” of COVID-19 from schools reopening in the fall. There’s no evidence she ever said that.
A “face mask exempt card” shared on social media invokes the Americans with Disabilities Act and claims to excuse people from wearing face masks. But the group behind the card — “Freedom to Breathe Agency” — is not a government agency, and federal officials say the ADA “does not provide a blanket exemption” from requirements to wear masks.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has promoted the “astonishing” results of an observational study that found hydroxychloroquine was associated with lower mortality for patients hospitalized for COVID-19. But the study has limitations, and multiple randomized controlled trials have found the drug is not beneficial to hospitalized patients.
A meme suggesting that face masks are useless against COVID-19 has been circulating online. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a face covering in public since the virus is transmitted mostly through droplets produced when people cough, sneeze and talk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that through May 30, 14% of confirmed coronavirus cases led to hospitalizations — including 2% in intensive care units. But President Donald Trump falsely claimed “99%” of cases “are totally harmless.”
A viral video questions the safety of face masks by using a gas detector to purportedly show that masks result in dangerous oxygen levels for the wearer. But experts — and the company that makes the gas detector — say the video’s test is scientifically flawed.
Viral posts wrongly claim that a painting depicting children in face masks was created as a mural for the Denver airport in 1994 — and baselessly suggest the COVID-19 pandemic was planned. The painting is not at the airport, and is not from 1994.
Noting that the United States accounts for about one-quarter of global COVID-19 cases and deaths, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the U.S. has “the worst record of any country in the world.” While the U.S. has the most confirmed cases and deaths by a wide margin, it does not have the most in either category on a per-capita basis.
Amid a surge in Florida’s COVID-19 cases, a Facebook meme dated June 24 falsely claims the state’s surgeon general recommended that people stop wearing face masks. The surgeon general actually issued an advisory two days earlier saying everyone in Florida “should wear face coverings in any setting where social distancing is not possible.”