Politics Plus

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*

COVID LINK to 5G CELL TOWERS DEBUNKED

Image source: Instagram

The stream of misinformation surrounding 5G technology and the coronavirus seems to be exponentially increasing, so much so that it has prompted Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, to address the issue at a recent press briefing where he noted there was “absolutely no evidence about 5G doing anything in the coronavirus space”. Dr Murphy added, “I have unfortunately received a lot of communication from these conspiracy theorists myself it is complete nonsense.”

It prompted the UK government to seek partnership with Twitter; users searching for 5G conspiracy tweets will see a pop-up with the text “the UK government has said there is no evidence of a link between 5G and coronavirus (COVID-19)” and directing them to further information.

Recent 5G misinformation consists of a video, viewed thousands of times, which shows a supposed telecoms engineer who is erecting 5G masts in the UK holding up an electrical circuit board and claiming it is “a piece of kit that has COV-19 on it”.

Reuters found that this video was staged; the circuit board isn’t used in 5G technology but was taken from a Virgin Media box for cable television. Virgin Media told Reuters the board was from a “very old set-top box” and had never been inscribed or imprinted with “COV-19”. Virgin maintained
“[The board] has absolutely no relation with any mobile network infrastructure, including that used for 5G.”

Another claim that “radiation pneumonitis”, allegedly caused by 5G, was being misdiagnosed as COVID-19 was also found to be false by Reuters.

REMDESIVIR FACTS

Remdesivir is an experimental antiviral drug, manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Gilead and recently approved as a COVID-19 treatment in the US. In Australia, the drug is not yet being used in any clinical trials, although it is expected some hospitals are to receive doses of the drug for use with COVID-19 patients.

Misinformation around many COVID-19 treatments, including remdesivir, has spread rapidly throughout the pandemic. For example, a Facebook post claimed that hydroxychloroquine, another touted COVID-19 treatment mentioned here before, was “91 per cent effective” and cheap, while remdesivir was effective in just 50 per cent of patients and cost US$1,000. “Why is Fauci pushing Remdesivir? It was invented by Fauci and Gates. Its stock is now soaring. Always follow the $$$$$$$.” the post stated, pointing to US infectious diseases expert and White House adviser Anthony Fauci and the much-maligned Bill Gates.

But as USA Today found, neither hydroxychloroquine nor remdesivir had been proven effective against COVID-19, with clinical trials ongoing. Further, Gilead Sciences is the only organisation that could profit from the sale of remdesivir and neither Mr Gates nor Dr Fauci had any involvement in the development of the drug.

Another Facebook post imagines a remdesivir conspiracy centred around Unitaid, which it suggests is Gilead’s “drug patent sharing subsidiary branch”. According to the post, Unitaid has an office in Wuhan and is backed by Bill and Melinda Gates, billionaire investor George Soros and the World Health Organisation. Hillary Clinton, Dr Fauci and Wuhan’s Institute of Virology are also mentioned.

Snopes found these claims to be false. Unitaid is not linked to Gilead and does not have an office near Wuhan. And while the organisation, which invests in innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat several global health issues, is supported financially by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, it has no ties to Mr Soros or Dr Fauci. Unitaid is a “hosted partnership” of the WHO but receives no financial support from the organisation.

PNEUMONIA VS THROMBOSIS

Image source: AP/Zhang Yuwei Via Xinhua

Some news stories lately have raised concerns that COVID-19, which has been viewed mainly as respiratory disease, may also have patients die through thrombosis (the formation of blood clots).

Full Fact took a look at claims posted on social media that COVID-19 patients were being misdiagnosed with pneumonia when in fact they were suffering from thrombosis. The posts propagated to fight the disease is with “antibiotics, antivirals, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants”.

The fact-checkers found that patients were not being “misdiagnosed” with pneumonia. Rather, both pneumonia and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC), which leads to thrombosis, was present in COVID-19 cases. Indian-based BOOM also found that respiratory failure rather than thrombosis was the leading cause of COVID-19 deaths with thrombosis of the lungs “a factor that can further complicate the course of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients,” they said.

Full Fact found that antibiotics were not recommended for treatment, as they are effective for bacterial infections only and no specific antiviral has been shown conclusively to be effective against COVID-19. Anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen could help treat COVID-19 symptoms at home, and there was evidence to suggest anticoagulants facilitated the treatment of some patients.

EXERCISE

Many are turning to exercise to relieve boredom and stay fit and healthy during the coronavirus restrictions. Some online claims, however, have suggested that exercise may weaken the immune system. One advertisement linking to an article claims that a “window of opportunity” exists in the hours after strenuous exercise which can leave people vulnerable to infection from viruses.

USA Today’s fact-checkers found that the “window of opportunity” theory has been around for decades, supported by at least one study that found “vigorous workouts could have a temporary negative effect on the immune system”.  But as to the long-term effects of exercising, several scientific studies suggested regular exercise promotes good health and reduces the risk of infections.

John Campbell, of the University of Bath’s Department of Health, told USA Today that “People should not fear that their immune system will be suppressed by exercise, placing them at increased risk of coronavirus.”

FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.

As the US grapples with soaring numbers of COVID-19 cases and the highest number of deaths in the world, Republicans are blaming former Democratic president Barack Obama for having left the current administration poorly placed to cope with the pandemic.

During an online discussion hosted by President Trump’s re-election campaign, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it may no longer be that pandemics are a once-in-100-year occurrence, and he wanted to be ready for the next one.

“Clearly, the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this.”

But fact-checkers at the Washington Post, CNN’s Fact First and Politifact found that claim to be false, and that the Obama administration had left behind a 40-page National Security Council “playbook” on fighting pandemics.

“McConnell is wrong to say the Obama administration left “no game plan” to deal with a pandemic,” the Washington Post concluded. “The Obama team crafted a detailed document setting forth questions and policies that should be considered, as well as put in place programs that might have helped spur action sooner.”

Senator McConnell later conceded in a Fox News interview: “I was wrong.”

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19

#26: Brown sugar
“There is no official cure for COVID-19 as of May 21, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There are several clinical trials being conducted to test potential cures, but consuming brown sugar is not one of them.” – Rappler

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*

WORLD HEALTH ACCORDING TO ANTI-VAXXERS

A tweet, believed to have been posted by a user named VaccineTruths on May 3, contains a screenshot of a page from the website WorldHealth.net and alleges that a 2017 study showed that people who had received a flu vaccine would be the “first to die” in a global pandemic. The page on the website appears to have been deleted, but an archived version exists.

WorldHealth.net Internet has been included NewsGuard’s list of websites publishing false coronavirus information the site “violates basic standards of credibility and transparency”.

The text screenshot contains comes from an article headlined “BOMBSHELL: Flu Shots Scientifically Proven to Weaken Immune Response in Subsequent Years”, which cites a 2017 study conducted by Lisa Christian of the Ohio State Medical Centre. This study, however, looked into the effect of flu vaccinations on pregnant women and newborns and makes no mention of a person’s likelihood of dying in a pandemic.

According to RMIT Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow Kylie Quinn, who has researched vaccines, there was no evidence in the paper that a flu vaccine made people more susceptible to influenza.

In general, there was no evidence at all that people who had received flu shots would be the first to die in a pandemic. Dr Quinn said that she knew of no credible evidence to support other claims contained in the post, such as people who received a flu jab in 2008 “experienced a 250 per cent increase in influenza infections in subsequent years”.

THAT BILL GATES AGAIN

Image source: Snopes

More misinformation, or should we say disinformation, regarding Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, appeared as a photo, shared on social media, which showed a crop circle in the UK featuring the Microsoft logo.

“Amazing crop circle arrives overnight near Stonehenge, UK… Think they are trying to tell us something…? Microsoft Bill Gates made the Corona Virus?” one tweet featuring the photo reads.

But fact-checkers at Snopes were able to track down the original image of a 2004 crop circle altered to feature the Microsoft logo.

ANOTHER WRITER WRONGLY ATTRIBUTED

Image source: Facebook

A passage of text quoting an imaginary exchange between Satan and Jesus has been misattributed to the Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis, written supposedly during WWII, circa 1942.

The text quotes Satan as saying he will “shut down business, schools, places of worship, and sport events” and “cause economic turmoil”, while Jesus retorts: “I will bring together neighbours [and] restore the family unit.” Jesus continues: “I will help people slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters.”

Reuters found the real author to be a social media user named Heidi May, who told the fact-checkers she wrote the post on a day she was feeling overwhelmed in early March.

INTERNATIONAL CORONAVIRUS FACT-CHECKING

The International Fact-Checking Network’s database of coronavirus fact checks, created to combat misinformation about the virus, has already hit a milestone 5,000 fact checks.

The five most popular fact checks:

1. An investigation by Spanish Maldita.es into a WhatsApp message claiming that Pope Francis had instructed believers to put a white cloth on their doorsteps to protect them from the plague. They found no evidence of any such advice in the Pope’s public appearances and statements.
2. The same Spanish outlet also debunked several of the coronavirus-related claims made by disgraced virologist Judy Mikovits in the viral video “Plandemic”, as noted in COVID-19 Fact and Fiction #6
3. The Mexican fact-checking network Animal Politico looked into claims that COVID-19 is a thrombosis which should be treated with antibiotics. They found that while some Italian researchers found pulmonary thrombosis to be linked to the coronavirus, the virus was essentially a respiratory illness, and was not treatable with antibiotics.
4. In India, FactCrescendo debunked a video which purported to show bodies of coronavirus victims being thrown into the sea. The video actually showed the bodies of African migrants who had been trying to get to Europe washed ashore in Libya in 2014.
5. Bothes and India Today debunked the claim that Harvard Professor Charles Lieber was arrested for creating the coronavirus and selling it to China. Lieber was certainly arrested but in reality, charged with concealing a foreign conflict of interest from investigators according to a US Justice Department statement.

SAFE TO FLY

Reuters: Kham

In the US, with some states are relaxing lockdown rules and summer holidays approach, the CEO of Southwest Airlines claimed in an appearance on CBS that an aeroplane is “as safe as an environment as you’re going to find”.

Fact-checkers at PolitiFact noted that planes had air ventilation systems that circulate purified air and that airlines were taking substantial steps to protect travellers. Experts said flying would be relatively safe as long as everyone onboard wore masks and wiped down surfaces but also noted passengers would be unable to maintain distance from each other inside the aircraft.

There would still be risks despite protective measures being taken by the airlines. “Is an airplane potentially carrying an infectious passenger safer than your own home, where the only contact with a stranger you have is grabbing the takeout dinner order left on your porch by a delivery person?” PolitiFact posed. “Clearly not.”

FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.

Barack Obama has criticised his successor, calling President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “an absolute chaotic disaster“.

The critique led Mr Trump to retweet a claim that “Barack Hussain Obama is the first Ex-President to ever speak against his successor, which was [a] long tradition of decorum and decency.”

He tagged the post: “He got caught, OBAMAGATE!”

But PolitiFact found that, in fact, a long line of former presidents had offered their successors “improvement suggestions”.

Herbert Hoover, for example, railed against Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and liberalism “from the time he left office in 1933 until his death in the mid-1960s”. Historians contacted by PolitiFact also pointed out that Jimmy Carter’s policies were ridiculed by predecessor Gerald Ford.

“Carter carried on the tradition. In November 1982, he said President Ronald Reagan had undermined confidence in America’s global leadership,” PolitiFact noted.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19

#24: Palm oil

“No, palm oil will not stop the coronavirus.” – Africa Check

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*

SOME SERIOUS ANTI-VAXXING

Image source: plandemicmovie.com

Regular Facebook users have almost certainly come across a viral video in recent days: the 27-minute trailer for a yet-to-be-released film called “Plandemic: The hidden agenda behind COVID-19” continues to spread widely despite censoring efforts by Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter. The movie’s makers maintain it will “expose the scientific and political elite who run the scam that is our global health system”.

The glossy trailer features a long interview with Dr Judy Mikovits, described by the Washington Post as a “well-known figure in the anti-vaccination movement”.

According to PolitiFact, however, a number of the claims made by Dr Mikovits in the clip are “either unsupported or outright false”, including her claim that she was jailed without charge.

Dr Mikovits makes other claims without any evidence to support them, including that the coronavirus was “clearly manipulated”, that the virus is a derivative of SARS 1, that hydroxychloroquine is effective against coronaviruses generally and that the flu vaccine increases the odds of getting COVID-19 by 36 per cent. The fact-checkers also debunked Dr Mikovits’s claims that the flu vaccine contains coronaviruses and that wearing a mask can make you sick.

Retraction Watch, which tracks retractions of scientific studies, has published at least 10 posts on the discredited scientist since 2011.

DON’T QUIT SMOKING?

In late April, headlines suggested that according to a French study smokers may be less likely to contract the coronavirus. The study found that just 4.4 per cent of COVID-19 patients admitted to a Paris hospital were smokers, as were 5.3 per cent of people suffering from the virus at home but that the smoking rate in the general population is 40 per cent for people aged 44-53 and 11 per cent for 65-75 year-olds.

But USA Today pointed to an overview of studies observing the effects of nicotine in severe COVID-19 cases made by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information which found instead that “smoking is most likely associated with the negative progression and adverse outcomes of COVID-19”.

The newspaper also spoke to other researchers, who urged caution regarding the French study. Academics writing in The Conversation noted that the “counterintuitive results may be due to several biases”, that the study had yet to be peer-reviewed, and that it was completed at “pandemic speed”.

BILL GATES REVISITED

Image source: Facebook

In COVID-19 facts and fiction 3, several false claims about Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who seems to act as a lightning rod for coronavirus misinformation, especially it concerns a COVID-19 vaccine.

This time the false claim relates to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has contributed more than $250 million to the fight against the novel coronavirus.

A Facebook photo showing the outside of the foundation’s headquarters emblazoned with the sign “Centre for Global Population Reduction” was photoshopped, according to fact-checkers at Politifact, Snopes and Lead Stories.

“There is no such thing as the Center for Global Human Population Reduction,” Lead Stories concluded. “It is just one in a long chain of false rumours about Gates in circulation.”

WHO CREATES FAKE NEWS?

Image source: BBC

As we have seen in previous articles, misinformation and disinformation are being dispersed faster and more widely when riding on the back of the global health crisis. But who is responsible for starting and spreading rumours, hoaxes and conspiracies? According to the BBC, viral misinformation spreaders often fit into one of several categories.

1. The ‘joker’, who posts misinformation for a laugh. The readers who aren’t in on the joke, pass it on as if it is true.
2. The ‘scammer’, who uses the pandemic deliberately to fool people into handing over money.
3. Politicians, such as US President Donald Trump
4. Celebrities, for example, actor Woody Harrelson.
5. Conspiracy theorists.
6. And last but not least, relatives. “They’re trying to be helpful and they think they’re doing something positive,” the BBC suggests. “But, of course, that doesn’t make the messages they pass along true.”

WILDLIFE RETURNS

Image source: Facebook

We’ve all seen the many images of wildlife reclaiming urban centres in coronavirus lockdown, but some have been fake or misleading. In the newest example, fact-checkers at Snopes found that an image of hundreds of flamingos in the canals of Venice is the result of digital manipulation.

The photo was created by an artist on Instagram, who clearly categorized her image as “art” and told commenters the photo wasn’t real. On Facebook, however, the image has been shared more than 19,000 times, without any qualification.

FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.

In March, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg declared that the social media giant was tackling “misinformation that has imminent risk of danger”, including claims that drinking bleach could cure COVID-19, which he described as being “in a different class”.

However, when US President Donald Trump mused about introducing disinfectants and UV light into the body as potential treatments for the COVID-19, Facebook, as well as Twitter and YouTube, declined to remove Mr Trump’s statements, arguing that he did not specifically direct people to drink or inject disinfectants or use UV lighting in an attempt to cure or prevent the disease.

Mr Trump may not have given a specific directive but others did take the next step, and the social media companies can’t keep up.

According to an investigation by the New York Times, hundreds of Facebook groups and pages and thousands of tweets pushing unproven UV therapies remained live as of April 30, a week after Mr Trump’s comments. More than 5,000 posts, videos and comments promoting the use of disinfectants as a virus cure remained on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19

#22: CBD oil
“There are no credible animal or human studies showing CBD [cannabidiol] has any effect on SARS-CoV-2 or the course of COVID-19 infection.” – Professor C. Michael White,  Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut, The Conversation

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*

TO CREATE OR NOT TO CREATE

Image source:  Facebook

Fact-checkers at AAP, AFP and Snopes debunked social media posts which claimed Tasuku Honjo, Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine in 2018, said the novel coronavirus was “not natural”, as it spreads in both hot and cold climates, and that it was”manufactured in China”.

Professor Honjo was quoted in these posts as having said: “I have done 40 years of research on animals and viruses. It is not natural. It is manufactured and the virus is completely artificial.”

Fact-checkers at AFP were unable to find any record of Professor Honjo making these remarks, and the professor himself issued a statement saying he was “greatly saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation”.

ANOTHER PRESIDENT LIES

Image source: AP Photo/Alexander Joe

According to the BBC, President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar officially launched an unproven herbal remedy by claiming the tea had already cured two people in the country, prompting people to queue for their supply of the free beverage.

According to Mr Rajoelina “This herbal tea gives results in seven days.”

But the World Health Organisation doesn’t recommend “self-medication with any medicines … as a prevention or cure for COVID-19” and in a report, the Bangkok Times, authored by AFP, has the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note: “There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure the illness caused by COVID-19. In fact, some of them may not be safe to consume.”

MASKS UNMASKED

Image source: Facebook

An infographic, purporting to show the effectiveness of face masks, claims a healthy person wearing a mask has a 70 per cent chance of being infected with the coronavirus by a sick person not wearing a mask. When mask-wearing is reversed, the apparent “contagion probability” falls to 5 per cent. When both healthy and sick people are fitted with masks, the chance of the healthy person of being infected is supposedly just 1 per cent.

Fact-checkers at Snopes and Reuters found that the information was mostly false**, as there was no scientific consensus of the efficacy of face masks nor data to support the quoted percentages. It was also unclear whether the post referred to surgical masks, homemade masks or N95 respirator masks.

However, as reported by Snopes, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that masks helped by “strengthening the social distancing that we are already doing”.

** The infographic made its appearance on Politics Plus too but with the footnote that the commenter who posted it could not vouch for the accuracy.

NO COVID-19 VACCINE YET

Image source: Facebook

Fact-checkers at Full Fact and factcheck.org have debunked a post shared on Facebook that falsely suggests a vaccine exists for the novel coronavirus.

In the post, a caption accompanying the photo of a vaccine vial states: “Now this was 2001 tell me why 19 years later they say there is no vaccine.”

However, the label on the vial clearly states “canine coronavirus vaccine”.

As may be known by now, coronaviruses are a family of viruses. The current outbreak relates to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

According to Full Fact: “Canine coronavirus doesn’t affect people, [but dogs] and is a gastrointestinal disease, not a respiratory one.”

NOT MADE IN CHINA EITHER

Image source: Twitter

A video in France has been shared with a misleading caption suggesting the faulty gear was made in China.

One version of a video, showing brand new medical gowns disintegrating in France, has been shared on Twitter and retweeted more than 250 times, is captioned: “Protect our doctors & nurses by not buying medical supplies from bloody #China!”, AFP Fact Check has found

But a spokesperson of the hospital featured in the video told AFP that the gowns were not made in China. Rather, they were French-made gowns that had been damaged while in storage in a humid place.

AND FROM WASHINGTON D.C.

US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that the US had done more testing for COVID-19 than “every country combined” has been rubbished by fact-checkers at factcheck.org.

When Mr Trump claimed on April 28, the US had carried out almost 6.03 million tests for the disease, which indeed is more than any other country but not more than all other countries combined, with more than 25 million tests administered outside the US.

When related to its population, the US is lagging behind other countries with 20,940 tested per million compared to for example 24,733 tested per million in Australia. Mr Trump may be aware of this and wants to conduct a suggested 5 million COVID-19 tests per day. However, the top US official in charge of testing, Admiral Brett Giroir, said that was not feasible with the current technology.

“There is absolutely no way on Earth, on this planet or any other planet, that we can do 20 million tests a day, or even five million tests a day,” Time magazine reported the testing czar as saying.

In its 56-page “roadmap” for a return to normalcy, a Harvard University study had suggested the US would need to conduct at least 5 million tests a day by early June, and 20 million per day by late July, something Giroir claimed was “an Ivory Tower, unreasonable benchmark”.

THE R NUMBER

Authorities in Germany and many other countries like Australia are paying very close attention to the rate of the spread of COVID-19, using the reproduction number or ‘R’ value as an important reference. The number indicates how many people one person with the virus can infect. For instance, if the rate is equal to 1, it means that one person is infecting – on average – one other person. Mary Colombel explains the logic behind the number.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19

#20: Aspirin with lemon juice and honey

“While some home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease.”– A spokesperson for the World Health Organisation, Philippines, as quoted by Rappler

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.