Flawed reasoning Health Posted on: 2020-08-17 Flawed “study” incorrectly claims that countries adopting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 experienced reduced mortality rates Claim: Large country-randomized controlled trial in 2.7 billion people shows 79.1% lower death rate in COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine Source: CovidAnalysis, Anonymous, 2020-08-05
Health Posted on: 2020-08-07 Hydroxychloroquine, alone or in combination with azithromycin, found ineffective for treating COVID-19 in large clinical trials Claim: “Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc cure [COVID-19]” Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-08-04
Incorrect Health Posted on: 2020-07-31 Still no evidence that hydroxychloroquine can cure or prevent COVID-19 Claim: “You don’t need masks, there is a cure [for COVID-19] ... It is called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax” Source: Breitbart, America's Frontline Doctors, Stella Immanuel, Simone Gold, 2020-07-27
Lacks context Health Posted on: 2020-07-27 Sexual transmission of SARS-CoV-2 currently unconfirmed as studies produce conflicting evidence of its presence in the reproductive system Claim: “Coronavirus may be sexually transmitted and cause male infertility” Source: New York Post, Paula Froelich, 2020-07-18
Misleading Health Posted on: 2020-07-23 Primary COVID-19 transmission is by close contact with infected people; nasopharyngeal swab-based testing provides the highest diagnostic accuracy Claim: “Ever wonder why they have to stick a Q-tip through your nose to the back of your head to swab a sample of covid but a droplet of saliva will infect a whole village at one time” Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-07-04
Misleading Health Posted on: 2020-07-14 Saliva might be an accurate, less-invasive alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 diagnosis; more research is needed to standardize its use in molecular testing Claim: There is no need to use nasopharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 testing, mouth swabs can be used instead Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-07-09
Health Posted on: 2020-07-04 Internet memes based on hearsay claim that hospital laboratories falsify COVID-19 tests to inflate numbers without evidence Claim: Hospital laboratories falsify positive COVID-19 results Source: Facebook, Anonymous, 2020-06-27
Health Posted on: 2020-06-24 No, Bill Gates is not funding COVID-19 vaccines as a way to conduct global surveillance or to depopulate the world Claim: Bill Gates, founder of harmful vaccination campaigns in developing countries, now plans to use COVID-19 vaccines to surveil the population Source: The Truth About Cancer, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, 2020-06-13
Health Posted on: 2020-06-10 German Ministry employee makes unsupported claim that COVID-19 pandemic is a global false alarm in widely circulated yet unsolicited opinion article Claim: German government leaked document declares COVID-19 is “a global false alarm” Source: NewsPunch, Baxter Dmitry, 2020-06-02
Health Posted on: 2020-05-28 To date, no therapy has been proven effective for preventing or treating COVID-19, contrary to claim by Dolores Cahill Claim: There is no need for social distancing because we have a treatment for COVID-19 Source: The Highwire, Dolores Cahill, 2020-05-19