Accessibility links

Breaking News

The Infodemic: COVID-19 Can Cause Worse Lung Damage than Smoking


A woman smokes a cigarette as she stands by a sign encouraging people to wash their hands amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Belfast, Northern Ireland Jan. 2, 2021.
A woman smokes a cigarette as she stands by a sign encouraging people to wash their hands amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Belfast, Northern Ireland Jan. 2, 2021.

Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.

Daily Debunk

Claim: COVID-19 can cause worse lung damage than smoking.

Verdict: True

Read the full story at: USA Today

Social Media Disinfo

Screenshot

Circulating on social media: Claim that the vaccines developed to combat COVID-19 are actually "placebos."

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: Reuters

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

COVID-Overwhelmed Hospitals Strain Staff and Hope to Avoid Rationing Care
There are times when critically ill patients must wait for beds, and some facilities have contingency plans to limit scarce supplies to certain patients.
-- Scientific American, January 27

Elective, but not optional: Orthopedic patients eagerly await surgeries delayed by Covid-19
[F]or some people anticipating operations to ease their pain or halt their disease, hospitals’ decisions about what’s elective involves a grim calculus of how long they can wait.
-- Stat, January 27

  • 16x9 Image

    Polygraph

    Polygraph is a fact-checking feature of the Voice of America (VOA)​. Polygraph serves as a resource for verifying the increasing volume of disinformation and misinformation being distributed and shared globally.

XS
SM
MD
LG