Flawed reasoning
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Health
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InaccurateA 2008 study co-authored by Anthony Fauci did not find that masks caused bacterial pneumonia, contrary to viral social media claim
Claim:
“Most of the victims of the Spanish flu didn’t die from the Spanish flu. They died from bacterial pneumonia. And the bacterial pneumonia was caused by [...] wearing masks”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-10-23 -
MisleadingThe number of COVID-19 deaths over the entire pandemic is higher in the U.S. than Europe, even when controlling for population size
Claim:
The U.S. has “a better handle on [COVID-19] than Europe”; “the disease is less deadly here than it is in most of Europe, based on case fatality data”
Source: Issues & Insights, I&I Editorial Board, 2020-10-29 -
Lacks contextClaim that mouthwash could reduce the spread of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed by clinical trials in humans
Claim:
Some mouthwashes could help curb coronavirus
Source: NewsNation, Nyzah McDonald, Evan Hinkley, 2020-10-26 -
Mostly accurateThe percentage of excess deaths in the U.S. not directly caused by COVID-19 ranges from 14% to 33%; it remains unclear how lockdowns influenced excess mortality
Claim:
“a third of excess deaths in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic could not be directly attributed to the coronavirus”; “One reason for the high amount of excess deaths not attributable to COVID-19 has been disruptions in health services caused by lockdowns.”
Source: Washington Examiner, Michael Lee, 2020-10-18 -
InaccurateFewer flu cases observed in the start of this flu season, but Donald Trump Jr.’s tweet suggesting data manipulation is unsupported and cites inaccurate figures
Claim:
“We went from 75,000 flu deaths last year in America to almost 0 [...] do you think there may be allocation games being played to manipulate the truth?”
Source: Twitter/X, Donald Trump Jr., 2020-10-26 -
InaccurateMasks are effective at reducing COVID-19 primary transmission through respiratory droplets; the CDC acknowledges airborne transmission via aerosols can also occur
Claim:
“CDC says [the SARS-CoV-2] virus was never airborne, rendering masks worthless”
Source: Banned.video, Owen Shroyer, 2020-09-22 -
Lacks contextVolunteer who died in a COVID-19 vaccine trial in Brazil did not receive the vaccine
Claim:
“Coronavirus horror: Volunteer in Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine trial DIES”
Source: Health Nut News, The Daily Express, Bill McLoughlin, Erin Elizabeth, 2020-10-21 -
InaccurateThe group World Doctors Alliance spreads misinformation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus, and the reliability of diagnostic tests
Claim:
COVID-19 is a type of flu and is not a pandemic; PCR tests are up to 94% false positive; only 98 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in Ireland.
Source: Facebook, YouTube, Doctors For Truth, World Doctors Alliance, 2020-10-15 -
UnsupportedClaims that flu cases are used to inflate COVID-19 case counts are misleading, based on inaccurate numbers
Claim:
“Flu cases down by 95%” between 2019 and 2020 for the weeks 40 to 41; flu is being diagnosed as COVID-19, leading to fewer flu cases being recorded
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-10-18
