Danielle E Anderson
New York Post article makes speculative, unsupported claim that mutation could enable the virus causing COVID-19 to evade handwashing and mask-wearing
“The preprint that the article focuses on actually says nothing about the most egregious claim made in the article: that the virus is evolving to get around hand-washing, masks, etc. This comes from a quote from someone who’s not an author on the preprint, giving an opinion about the preprint…on a topic not covered by the preprint.”
Scientific evidence indicates virus that causes COVID-19 infection is of natural origin, not the result of human engineering
Claim:
evidence points to SARS-CoV-2 research being carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
Viral New York Post article perpetuates the unfounded claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 is manmade
Overall, Mosher’s argument is based on unfounded speculation and scientific inaccuracies. Such claims, which continue to be perpetuated even by public officials, have real-world repercussions. Peter Daszak, epidemiologist and president of the EcoHealth Alliance who has collaborated with WIV researchers, warned during an interview with the journal Science: “These rumors and conspiracy theories have real consequences, including threats of violence that have occurred to our colleagues in China.”
No conclusive evidence links consumption of bats with the 2019 coronavirus outbreak
Claim:
Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak linked to eating bats
Daily Mail article misleads with clickbait headline claiming cowpox-derived virus will “kill every type of cancer”
“This article substantially overhypes early pre-clinical work with a viral therapy that has not yet been tested in even the earliest stages of human clinical trials. The headline is particularly misleading as I can find only three published papers suggesting the therapy has efficacy in lung, breast and colorectal cancers in cell lines and mouse models only.”