Daily Debunk
Claim: Reports about the COVID-19 outbreak in India are "a UK government ploy to keep people terrified."
Verdict: False
Read the full story at: Reuters
Social Media Disinfo
Circulating on social media: Claim that San Francisco had "twice as many drug overdose deaths as COVID deaths" in 2020.
Verdict: True
Read the full story at: PolitiFact
Factual Reads on Coronavirus
After a Year of Loss, South America Suffers Worst Death Tolls Yet
If the world doesn’t stop the region’s surging caseload, it could cost us all that we’ve done to fight the pandemic, one health official said.
-- New York Times, April 29
Decoded: How Do Vaccines Actually Work?
Vaccines are medicines that train the body to defend itself against future disease, and they have been saving human lives for hundreds of years.
-- Scientific American, April 29
Vaccinations are plateauing. Don’t blame it on ‘resistance’
Instead of talking up hesitancy, it’s time to talk about what motivates people to get vaccinated and identify the ongoing barriers to vaccination.
-- Stat, April 27
FDA and CDC OK resuming J&J COVID-19 shots paused over rare clot concerns
Experts debated a warning for women under 50, but decided to reinstate the vaccine without one.
-- ScienceNews, April 23
Do We Still Need to Keep Wearing Masks Outdoors?
Science shows that the risk of viral transmission outside is very low. The “two-out-of-three rule” can help you decide whether to mask up.
-- New York Times, April 22
I’m fully vaccinated against COVID-19. How long will the protection last?
The answer is as simple as it is unsatisfying: No one knows.
-- Los Angeles Times, April 21
Disinfecting surfaces to prevent Covid often all for show, CDC advises
The risk of surface transmission of Covid-19 is low, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Far more important is airborne transmission -- and people who obsessively disinfect surfaces may be doing more harm than good.
-- CNN, April 20
Next-generation Covid-19 vaccines are supposed to be better. Some experts worry they could be worse
With Covid-19 vaccines, the world hopes to beat back the virus that causes the disease. But some scientists are increasingly concerned that, because of a quirk of our own biology, future iterations of the vaccines might not always be quite as effective as they are today.
-- Stat, April 16
Schools Can Open Safely during COVID, the Latest Evidence Shows
The risk of COVID transmission in schools is very low if precautions are taken.
-- Scientific American, April 15
A coronavirus epidemic may have hit East Asia about 25,000 years ago
Descendants of the outbreak may have inherited some DNA that affects their response to COVID-19.
-- ScienceNews, April 14
How Could a COVID Vaccine Cause Blood Clots?
Researchers are searching for possible links between unusual clotting and the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
-- Scientific American, April 13
The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections
COVID19 Infodemics Observatory
Reliable Coronavirus Information
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Federation of American Scientists
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine
