Health & medicine fact checks

"Afortunadamente, mientras el virus comenzó a extenderse, el presidente actuó rápido para asegurar que los ventiladores fueran a los hospitales que más los necesitaban”

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim was made by Donald Trump Jr. during the first day of the Republican National Convention. He said that, as the virus began to spread, his father acted quickly to ensure ventilators went to the hospitals that needed them most. The review places this statement against the broader timing of the federal response, rather than documenting how ventilators were allocated to particular hospitals. It says an earlier New York Times investigation found that warnings, internal divisions, lack of planning, and reliance on Trump’s instincts contributed to a hesitant White House response. The review presents a chronology of public statements and actions. It reports that Trump received intelligence warnings on January 23 and January 28 that the virus could spread globally. On January 30, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency; Trump blocked travel from China that day but also said the virus was under control at an Iowa rally. In February, he again said the virus was under control, asserted the country was prepared, and predicted the outbreak would disappear. The chronology also records that he declared a national emergency on March 13, when the United States had nearly 3,000 cases and 58 deaths. The review’s stated basis for its assessment is this chronology and the reporting it attributes to The New York Times and PolitiFact. It notes that, by March 30, U.S. cases exceeded 163,000 and testing remained far short of what the country needed; it also describes contaminated CDC test reagents and bureaucratic delays. The supplied text does not give specific evidence about ventilator shipments or hospital-level distribution, so its examination addresses the broader claim of a rapid pandemic response rather than establishing where ventilators went. The review concludes that the claim of a rapid response was unsupported by the record it summarizes.

Como el virus es "cortesía del Partido Comunista chino", nuestro Presidente tomó medidas a tiempo para bloquear entradas a nuestro país

Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias

In een post op Facebook wordt beweerd dat minister van Volksgezondheid Hugo de Jonge (CDA) vaccinatie wil verplichten tegen het nieuwe coronavirus dat COVID-19 veroorzaakt. "Allemaal verplicht gevaccineerd", schrijft een man in de boventekst. In de bijgevoegde video valt een montage te zien van minister de Jonghe die enkele uitspraken doet over vaccinatie en wie er eerst gevaccineerd zou worden. Hij besluit de video met de uitspraak "uiteindelijk moeten we allemaal".

Publisher’s rating: De bewering bovenaan de video is fout; volgens het ministerie is er tot op heden nog steeds geen plan om een vaccinatieplicht in te voeren. De video die wordt weergegeven, toont selectieve fragmenten uit een uitleg van minister De Jonge op YouTube en is dus misleidend.

The Facebook post placed the words “Allemaal verplicht gevaccineerd” above a video montage of Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge. It used selected remarks about vaccination and who might receive a vaccine first, ending with his words, “Uiteindelijk moeten we allemaal!” The review traced the footage to an informal YouTube interview with Philadelphia, a care organization, in which De Jonge spoke with residents about how the Netherlands should respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The key issue was whether his closing phrase meant vaccination would be compulsory. A spokesperson for the minister told the review that a coronavirus vaccine would not be mandatory in the Netherlands. She explained that discussing who should be offered a vaccine first—for example, older people or people in vulnerable health—was about prioritizing access, not requiring vaccination. In that explanation, “everyone” meant the vaccine would be available to all, not that everyone would be compelled to take it. The review therefore distinguished the minister’s actual words from the interpretation added by the post’s headline. It reported that the video used selective excerpts, but also noted that the minister was accurately quoted in the original post; the misleading element was the implication that the remarks announced compulsory vaccination. The review further said there was no coronavirus vaccine yet and cited the World Health Organization’s count of 31 developers conducting clinical tests, with none officially approved at that time.

China e FDA aprovaram o uso da Cloroquina como 100% eficiente na cura do Covid

Publisher’s rating: Enganoso: A Comissão Nacional de Saúde da China anunciou em um novo protocolo que a cloroquina, em sua forma de fosfato, pode ser usada como droga experimental no tratamento da covid-19 por pacientes entre 18 e 65 anos, no período máximo de sete dias. O órgão, no entanto, reforça que não há nenhum medicamento antiviral com eficiência cientificamente comprovada no combate à doença. A FDA, ao contrário do que afirma a publicação verificada pelo Comprova, não recomenda o uso do medicamento para a doença

سازمان بهداشت جهانی می‌گوید از مراجعه غیرضروری به دندان‌پزشکی خودداری کنید.

Publisher’s rating: درست

Claim: Has any Pondicherry university student found cure for Covid 19

Publisher’s rating: False

Verschwörungstheoretiker unken von einer in Kürze bevorstehenden Notlage in Deutschland infolge der Corona-Krise. Die Bundesregierung wolle wegen steigender Infektionszahlen das Land demnächst herunterfahren und Geschäfte schließen. In diesem Zusammenhang verbreitet sich im August 2020 in den sozialen Medien ein Foto mit Artikeln von Deutsche Post DHL. Anhand der Aufnahme wird unterstellt, das Unternehmen versende «Notrationen» an seine Mitarbeiter - um die Dienstleistungen aufrechtzuerhalten, falls die Bevölkerung demnächst «von der Lebensmittelversorgung abgeschnitten» sein sollte.

Publisher’s rating: DHL-Beschäftigte haben vom Unternehmen Snacks für eine virtuelle Party erhalten. Ein Konzernsprecher bezeichnet die Spekulationen um «Notrationen» als Fake.

The post circulated a photo of DHL-branded items and treated them as emergency provisions being sent to employees in anticipation of a shutdown and disruption to food supplies. The investigation identified the event materials in the image as items for DHL Express’s annual Family Days, rather than supplies for a crisis. A DHL spokesperson told dpa that the event was being held virtually because of coronavirus precautions.

SPB பாலசுப்பிரமணி பூரணமாக குணமடைந்தார்.. அனைவரின் வேண்டுதல்களுக்கும் செவிசாய்த்து அந்த பாடும் நிலாவை நமக்கு மீண்டும் பரிசு அளித்து விட்டான் இறைவன்.. ஆம் கொரோனாவால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு சென்னை தனியார் மருத்துவமனையில் தீவிர சிகிச்சை பெற்று வந்த SPB என எல்லோராலும் அன்பாக அழைக்கப்பட்ட பிரபல பாடகர் பாலசுப்பிரமணி முழுமையாக குணம் அடைந்தார்.. ஆகஸ்ட் 5தேதி முதல் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வரும் இவருக்கு இன்று நடத்தப்பட்ட கொரோனா பரிசோதனையில் நெகடிவ் என வந்ததால் இனி உயிருக்கு ஆபத்து இல்லை என மருத்துவர்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்

Publisher’s rating: Fake

Op sociale media gaat een interview van de Nederlandse radio-dj en presentator Giel Beelen viraal. In het programma Kukuru nodigde hij gezondheidscoach Jesse van der Velde uit om te praten over het coronavirus. Tijdens het interview zegt van der Velde onder meer dat het onmogelijk is om een vaccin te ontwikkelen, omdat virussen zich steeds muteren. Ook zou het SARS-CoV-2-virus in april niet meer hetzelfde virus zijn als in maart. Ten slotte zou het vaccin tegen de Mexicaanse griep een groot drama zijn geweest, met tal van klachten en bijwerkingen. Maar wat klopt er precies van zijn uitleg?

Publisher’s rating: In zijn betoog haalt gezondheidscoach Jesse van der Velde enkele onwaarheden aan. Het houdt geen steek dat je geen vaccins kan ontwikkelen omdat virussen telkens muteren. Het klopt evenmin dat het vaccin voor het Mexicaans griepvirus een drama was met veel klachten en bijwerkingen. Tenslotte zijn de beweringen over social distancing ook niet wetenschappelijk gestaafd.

The review examines a viral interview in which health coach Jesse van der Velde discussed coronavirus with Dutch radio host Giel Beelen on the programme Kukuru. It reports that Van der Velde argued vaccine development was impossible because viruses mutate, that SARS-CoV-2 had changed so much between March and April that it was no longer the same virus, and that the vaccine against the 2009 Mexican flu caused many complaints and side effects. The review also addresses his comments on social distancing and comparisons with earlier flu seasons. Its account says Beelen questioned some of Van der Velde’s remarks but continued to give him the floor. On mutation and vaccine development, the review quotes KU Leuven virologist Piet Maes explaining that viruses mutate at a specific speed, which can be modelled, and that a working vaccine can be redesigned when needed. It also quotes Sciensano virologist Steven Van Gucht describing coronaviruses as relatively stable and saying that mutations in SARS-CoV-2 had not affected recognition by the immune system. The review therefore rejects the claim that the reported difference between March and April made vaccine development impossible. On the Mexican flu vaccine, the review reports that the H1N1pdm09 strain continued to be used in seasonal influenza vaccine development. Maes argued that widespread problems would have become known, and the review says there was no scientifically supported evidence of a multitude of complaints and side effects. For other claims in the interview, the review quotes RIVM’s Loes Hartman saying that comparing raw death statistics does not establish the point Van der Velde was making: flu-season analysis uses excess mortality, and the review reports that excess mortality during the Dutch coronavirus-pandemic peak was much higher than during the early-2018 flu epidemic. On distancing, it quotes professor Bert Blocken saying there is no single conclusive distance that works in every scenario; he describes the recommended distance as a practical compromise.

73 రోజుల్లో ‘కోవిషీల్డ్’ కరోనా వ్యాక్సిన్ మార్కెట్లో ఫ్రీగా అందుబాటులోకి వస్తుందని ‘ Serum Institute of India’ కంపెనీ ప్రతినిధులు తెలిపారు.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Claim: SPB son denies reports of his father tested negative for covid 19

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated a circulating report that singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam had tested negative for COVID-19. It says the report began with a tweet from film publicist Nikhil and was repeated by Puthiya Thalaimurai, which later removed its report. The review notes that other outlets continued to carry the claim. Its account is specifically about the negative-test report, not a denial that Balasubrahmanyam had COVID-19: it states that his infection was real and that his family had not denied it. (The review describes the claim as: “‘’எஸ்பி பாலசுப்ரமணியத்திற்கு கொரோனா நெகடிவ்,’’ என்று கூறி பகிரப்படும் தகவல் ஒன்றை காண நேரிட்டது.” It also says: “முதலில், சினிமா பிஆர்ஓ நிகில் என்பவர் இந்த தகவலை ட்விட்டரில் வெளியிட்டார். அவரை நம்பி புதிய தலைமுறை ஊடகம் இவ்வாறு தவறான செய்தியை வெளியிட்டுவிட்டு, பின்னர் நீக்கிவிட்டது.”) The central evidence reported is a video statement by Charan, published within hours of the negative-test claim spreading. According to the review, Charan said that his father’s condition remained unchanged regardless of the COVID test result and that he was on life support and ECMO. The review also recounts that Nikhil said his tweet had been shared with Charan’s consent, but presents Charan’s subsequent clarification as a rejection of the claim that his father had tested negative. (The review says: “கொரோனா நெகடிவ் என செய்தி பரவ தொடங்கிய சில மணி நேரத்திலேயே, அவரது மகன் எஸ்பிபி சரண் மறுப்பு தெரிவித்து, வீடியோ ஒன்றை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார்.” It reproduces the statement: “Regardless of COVID results dad's status still the sameDad is on life support & ECMO”.) The review’s stated conclusion is that the negative-test report was false. It distinguishes that claim from the singer’s confirmed infection and describes his condition at the time as stable but still under medical supervision. Its conclusion rests on the son’s reported video clarification and the review’s account of the claim’s circulation and retraction; the supplied excerpt does not describe independent access to medical test records. (The review states: “எஸ்பி பாலசுப்ரமணியத்திற்கு கொரோனா தொற்று உள்ளது உண்மைதான். அதனை அவரது குடும்பத்தினர் மறுக்கவில்லை.” It adds: “தற்சமயம் அவர் உடல்நிலை சீராக உள்ளது. ஆனால், தொடர்ந்து மருத்துவ கண்காணிப்பில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளார்.”)

ರಷ್ಯಾ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ವ್ಲಾಡಿಮಿರ್ ಪುಟಿನ್ ಅವರ ಮಗಳಿಗೆ ಲಸಿಕೆ ಹಾಕುವ ವಿಡಿಯೋ.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Zou jij een coronatest laten uitvoeren als je dit wist? Die vraag stelt een afbeelding die flink gedeeld wordt op sociale media. Wat volgt is een opsomming van feiten die de PCR-test - de meest gebruikte coronatest - in diskrediet brengen: een beschadigde bloed-breinbarrière, een toxische stof waarin de teststaaf gedrenkt is en het feit dat verpleegkundigen niet eens weten waarom die teststaaf zo "extreem diep" ingebracht moet worden. Maar kloppen die beweringen wel?

Publisher’s rating: In de foto worden een aantal onwaarheden opgesomd om de PCR-test in diskrediet te brengen. Een coronatest beschadigt de bloed-breinbarrière niet en de teststaaf wordt niet in een toxische stof gedrenkt. De test wordt uitgevoerd door erkende en onafhankelijke laboratoria en de test spoort enkel het SARS-CoV-2-virus op.

The review examined a widely shared image that challenged PCR testing by claiming, among other things, that a nasal swab damages the blood-brain barrier, is coated in a toxic substance, and is inserted unusually deeply for reasons nurses do not understand. The investigation consulted virology experts and described the testing and laboratory arrangements cited by the Dutch public-health institute RIVM and Sciensano. It found that the image’s claims about the barrier and toxic coating were not supported: the swab collects cellular material in the nose and does not reach the brain, and the swabs are packaged with the test kit rather than dipped in a toxic substance. On the depth question, the review reports that the swab is used to sample farther into the nose because more virus particles are found deeper in the nasal passage. Steven Van Gucht said both deeper nasopharyngeal and shallower nose-and-throat sampling can detect the virus effectively; the shallower approach can be useful for assessing whether someone remains infectious. Thus, the image’s comparison with droplets of mucus or saliva omits the distinction between sampling sites and the purpose of the test. The review also rejects the suggestion that the tests are administered by unqualified or malicious people: it says the tests are taken by municipal health services and processed by accredited laboratories subject to internationally recognized requirements. It further reports that PCR tests are designed to detect SARS-CoV-2, not other viruses. These findings address the specific image’s claims; the excerpt does not provide independent test results or a detailed account of how the image itself was created or spread.

In einem vielfach geteilten Sharepic bei Facebook wird behauptet, dass zu Zeiten der «Spanischen Grippe» 1918/19 «allein die Impfung» mehr als 50 Millionen Menschen tötete.

Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass während der Spanischen Grippe 50 Millionen Menschen an den Folgen einer Impfung starben. Grippeimpfstoffe waren zu dieser Zeit weder entwickelt noch verbreitet.

The Facebook image attributes more than 50 million deaths during the 1918/19 Spanish flu to vaccination. The review instead reports that up to 50 million people died after infection in the pandemic, which spread in three waves between spring 1918 and early 1919. It also says that more than 400,000 people in Germany died in the pandemic. Those figures concern deaths from influenza, not deaths caused by an injection. (S1: “Zwischen Frühjahr 1918 und Anfang 1919 verbreitete sich eine Influenzapandemie in drei Wellen über die Welt. Nach jüngeren Berechnungen starben bis zu 50 Millionen Infizierte. Allein in Deutschland fielen mehr als 400 000 Menschen der Influenzapandemie zum Opfer.”) The review places the pandemic before the development of influenza vaccines. It describes research that identified the 1918/19 virus as influenza A, subtype H1N1, using genetic analysis of preserved lung tissue from a soldier who died of flu in 1918. It says the pandemic helped prompt research into whether influenza was caused by a virus rather than, as had previously been thought, bacteria. (S1: “Ein Team um die amerikanischen Virologen Jeffery Taubenberger und Ann Reid ermittelte durch Genanalysen zweifelsfrei, dass die Pandemie 1918/1919 durch ein Influenzavirus vom Typ A (Subtyp H1N1) verursacht wurde.”; “Während der Pandemie kam bei Wissenschaftlern erstmals die Vermutung auf, dass die Grippe nicht - wie bislang angenommen - bakteriell, sondern virenverursacht ist.”) The chronology given in the review is inconsistent with the claim that a widely used influenza vaccine caused the pandemic’s deaths: it says the virus was first isolated in the early 1930s, followed by further vaccine-development steps, and that the first influenza vaccines were licensed in the United States by the mid-1940s. The review also quotes the Paul Ehrlich Institute’s spokesperson as saying that, to the institute’s knowledge, there were no influenza vaccines at the time of the Spanish flu, while allowing that individual attempts may have occurred. (S1: “Bis Mitte der 1940er Jahre wurden nach umfangreichen Studien die ersten Grippeimpfstoffe in den USA zugelassen.”; “Unseres Wissens gab es zurzeit der Spanischen Grippe noch keine Influenza-Impfstoffe. Was nicht heißt, dass es vielleicht einzelne Versuche gab.”)

واکسن کرونا ساخت روسیه تنها روی ۳۸ نفر آزمایش شده است.

Publisher’s rating: نیمه‌درست

Putri Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin meninggal usai menerima dosis kedua vaksin Covid-19 Rusia

Publisher’s rating: Keliru

Aktuell verbreitet sich eine Bildcollage, die fünf Menschen mit Rötungen oder Bläschen im Gesicht zeigt. «Wer tut seinem Kind freiwillig so etwas an? (…) Schickt alle Masken zum Bundeskanzleramt», heißt es etwa in einem Posting. Dadurch wird suggeriert, dass durch das Tragen einer Maske solche gesundheitlichen Probleme entstehen könnten.

Publisher’s rating: Durch das Tragen einer Maske können Hautunreinheiten verursacht werden. Doch es gibt keinen Beweis, dass die Fotos dies zeigen. Vielmehr stehen die Hautkrankheiten auf drei Bildern der Collage nachweislich nicht im Zusammenhang mit Gesichtsmasken. Zudem wurde ein Foto nachträglich manipuliert.

The review examined the five-photo collage circulating with a post that suggested masks caused the pictured facial redness and blisters. It traced the images to different origins and found that three depict conditions not caused by masks, while another was altered to make mask marks look more severe. The collage therefore does not establish that the pictured skin problems resulted from mask-wearing. The child at the upper right appears in an English-language Wikipedia entry about eczema herpeticum, a herpes infection occurring on eczema; the review says the photo was uploaded there in April 2018 and also appears on an Australian children’s hospital information page. The lower-left image shows a child with chickenpox and had appeared in a photo database and on a parent-information page. The lower-right image shows a woman with rosacea, a condition that causes facial redness; the photographer’s database folder was last updated in 2019, and a nearly identical image illustrates information about rosacea. The image of a nurse in the middle-right of the collage was based on a photo posted by Milan intensive-care nurse Valeria Zedde on 13 March 2020, after a hospital shift. The review reports that the collage version had been manipulated: the marks were darkened so they looked deeper than in the original. The upper-left image was different: the girl’s mother said her daughter had an allergic reaction after wearing a cloth mask for several hours. Thus the review does not establish that every image had an unrelated cause, but it finds that the collage’s broad implication is unsupported by most of its examples and that one example was dramatized. The review also distinguishes the collage’s evidence from the possibility of skin irritation. It reports that prolonged mask-wearing can cause irritation and may aggravate existing skin conditions in the warm, humid environment under a mask. That qualification does not show that the collage’s images were caused by masks.

In einem Youtube-Video wird behauptet, dass Gesundheitsminister Rudolf Anschober bereits den zweiten Lockdown für Österreich im Herbst verkündet hat. Im Video spricht er etwa von einer «vierten Phase» und dass die Bevölkerung wieder mehr «indoor» sein wird. Auf Facebook wird sowohl das Youtube-Video als auch das zugrundeliegende «ZiB»-Video in Beiträgen geteilt. Von Usern wird es oft mit einem kommenden zweiten Lockdown in Verbindung gebracht.

Publisher’s rating: Gesundheitsminister Anschober hat weder einen zweiten Lockdown noch eine Zwangsimpfung verkündet und dies in dem Video auch nicht thematisiert. Er sprach von einer neuen Phase, in der Infektionen vermutlich wieder zunehmen werden.

The claim concerned a YouTube video presented as an announcement by Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober of a second lockdown in autumn. The review says the clip was shared on Facebook alongside the underlying «Zeit im Bild» video, and users associated it with a coming lockdown. Its account of what Anschober actually said is narrower: he referred to a coming «fourth phase» because people would spend more time indoors, which he thought would probably increase infections. The review says he proposed relying on measures including the Corona traffic-light system and the Corona Commission. (S1: “Im Video spricht er etwa von einer «vierten Phase» und dass die Bevölkerung wieder mehr «indoor» sein wird.”; “Anschober spricht darin von einer kommenden «vierten Phase», da Menschen wieder mehr Zeit indoor verbringen werden und dadurch vermutlich die Infektionsrate steigen werde. Deshalb wolle man auf Maßnahmen wie die Corona-Ampel und die Corona-Kommission setzen.”) The review compared the claim with the content of the circulated clip: it reports that neither “Lockdown” nor “Zwangsimpfung” appears in the excerpt, and that neither is implied there. It also reports that the YouTube title falsely framed the clip as an announcement of a second lockdown and compulsory vaccination. Thus, the review distinguishes Anschober’s forecast of a possible rise in infections from an announcement of lockdown or vaccination policy. (S1: “Der Titel des Youtube-Videos spricht fälschlicherweise von einer «ANKÜNDIGUNG des 2. LOCKDOWN bis zur ZWANGSIMPFUNG».”; “Im Videoausschnitt finden sich allerdings weder die Begriffe Lockdown oder Zwangsimpfung, auch wird keines von beiden angedeutet.”) The review further says the YouTube upload had the «ZiB» logo removed and additional text added, including “Österreich / Genozid / Powered by Bill Gates” and an author line naming Dawid Snowden. It identifies the original clip as a video on the «Zeit im Bild» Facebook page and says a full recording of Anschober’s press conference was available on his own Facebook page. The review reports that this full recording also contained no announcement of a second lockdown or compulsory vaccination. (S1: “Das Originalvideo findet sich auf der Facebook-Seite der Nachrichtensendung «Zeit im Bild».”; “Außerdem wurde beim Youtube-Video das «ZiB»-Logo entfernt und andere Texte wie «Österreich / Genozid / Powered by Bill Gates» oder eine Autorenzeile mit dem Namen Dawid Snowden hinzugefügt.”; “Die vollständige Pressekonferenz von Gesundheitsminister Anschober findet sich noch auf seiner Facebook-Seite. Auch dort wurde weder ein zweiter Lockdown noch eine Zwangsimpfung verkündet.”)

Wearing a face mask disrupts pH levels and increases cancer risk

Publisher’s rating: False

"It's basically impossible to get any kind of compensation if you're injured" by a COVID-19 vaccine.

Publisher’s rating: False