Daily Debunk
Claim: “The overall lethality of [COVID-19] (IFR) is about 0.1% to 0.3% and thus in the range of a severe influenza.”
Verdict: Inaccurate
Read the full story at: Health Feedback
Social Media Disinfo
Circulating on social media: Claim that a contact tracing program developed by Apple and Google has been secretly inserted onto phones and tracks user’s location.
Verdict: Misleading
Read the full story at: Agence France-Presse
Factual Reads on Coronavirus
The coronavirus may shut down the immune system’s vital classrooms
In many infections, the immune system builds so-called germinal centers in the spleen or lymph nodes to train cells that make antibodies, but the structures fail to develop in some COVID-19 cases.
-- Science, August 25
Lockdown Let the Earth Breathe. What Do We Do Next?
COVID-19 could be a turning point in climate activism—but only if we play it right.
-- The Walrus. August 24
Is convalescent plasma safe and effective? We answer the major questions about the Covid-19 treatment.
-- Stat, August 23
Long-Haulers Are Redefining COVID-19
Without understanding the lingering illness that some patients experience, we can’t understand the pandemic.
-- The Atlantic, August 19
Evidence lags behind excitement over blood plasma as a coronavirus treatment
Although there have been few data on whether convalescent plasma definitely improves outcomes for people with other diseases, it was logical to test the treatment against COVID-19 when the outbreak began. But researchers have struggled to nail down its effectiveness in the middle of the pandemic, says Michael Joyner, an anaesthesiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
-- Nature, August 19
The ever-expanding list of COVID-19 symptoms
We last wrote about COVID-19 symptoms at the end of April. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added several new symptoms of possible infection: congestion, runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
-- MITMedical, August 11
Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection to Harvest Crops
Farms have already reported outbreaks among hundreds of workers in states that include California, Washington, Florida and Michigan.
-- Kaiser Health News, August 10
Winter is coming: Why America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing
Unless Americans use the dwindling weeks between now and the onset of “indoor weather” to tamp down transmission in the country, this winter could be Dickensianly bleak, public health experts warn.
-- Stat, August 10
Watch: Antibodies, immunity, and what they mean for Covid-19, explained
The immune system is no wimp. When pathogens cause illness, it kicks into high gear. Cells work together to tag, kill and gobble up invaders as they fight the infection.
-- Stat, May 5
The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide
Eight ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
-- Nature, April 28
The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections
COVID19 Infodemics Observatory
Mapping the COVID-19
Reliable Coronavirus Information
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Federation of American Scientists
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine
