Flawed reasoning
Mask use does not increase risk of COVID-19 as viral social media posts claim
Claim:
More people who wear masks become sick with COVID-19 compared to non-mask wearers, therefore masks don’t work or are making us ill
Articles tagged with
Coronavirus
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Source: The Federalist, Jordan Davidson, 2020-10-12 -
Inaccurate
Mortality in the U.S. was more than 280,000 higher during the first eight months of 2020 than any of the previous five years over the same period
Claim:
“U.S. mortalities this year are not materially different from the previous 5 years”
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-10-06 -
-1.3Low
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.”
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Flawed reasoning
The flu shot is an effective measure to protect people from flu, and enhances protection when used with face masks
Claim:
“Seriously if the ‘mask’ protects me and you from [COVID-19] and we've been walking around in them for months, why would anyone need a flu shot right now?”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-09-21 -
Inaccurate
COVID-19 vaccines aren’t expected to be available for the public in several weeks, contrary to viral claim on social media
Claim:
“The Government has released their initial plans to force a vaccine on everyone”; “Three potential vaccines are currently in Stage 3 trials in the United States and could be ready in weeks”
Source: Before it’s news, SHTFplan, Mac Slavo, 2020-09-16 -
Inaccurate
COVID-19 is at least an order of magnitude more deadly than seasonal flu, according to current estimates
Claim:
“COVID-19 [is] less deadly than [seasonal] flu”
Source: Facebook, Instagram, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 2020-09-27 -
Inaccurate
The total number of COVID-19 deaths thus far exceeds the number of abortions over two days worldwide
Claim:
“More babies will die by abortion in two days than all the coronavirus deaths thus far”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-09-18 -
Misleading
COVID-19 has caused many deaths due to high virus transmission, despite its relatively small infection fatality ratio
Claim:
COVID-19 mortality rates are very low, therefore COVID-19 is not an important public health concern; if you are 70+ years old, you have a 0.054% chance of dying from COVID-19
Source: Facebook, Fox News, Facebook users, 2020-09-24 -
Using face masks does not increase the risk of skin or oral infections
Claim:
Masks are dirty and cause bacterial overgrowth, skin infections, and “mask mouth, [which is] a new medical condition caused by wearing masks all day”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-09-16 -
Incorrect
COVID-19 vaccines do not modify the human genome and do not involve hydrogels; hydrogels are not internet-connecting devices
Claim:
Hydrogels are part of the genome-modifying COVID-19 mRNA vaccines' delivery system; hydrogels will connect you to the internet
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-09-16
