Claim reviews
Diesel cars are a major source of NO2 emissions in European cities, contrary to online claim
CLAIM
The drop in NO2 content has only been “slight”. So it cannot be the evil diesel engine cars that are “choking” our cities.
SOURCE: Holger Douglas, Tichys Einblick
Published: 02 May 2020
VERDICT
Claim that hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin improves COVID-19 recovery is unsupported at this stage
CLAIM
By administering hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin, they were able to observe an improvement in all cases, except in one patient
SOURCE: Anonymous, Tech Startups
Published: 01 May 2020
VERDICT
Little to no evidence that smoking protects against COVID-19; may increase risk of complications instead
CLAIM
smoking may protect against COVID-19
SOURCE: Christopher Snowdon, Spiked
Published: 29 Apr 2020
VERDICT
The number of flu cases and deaths in 2020 is comparable to previous years
CLAIM
there are ZERO flu deaths and ZERO pneumonia deaths for the first time in history
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 28 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Volunteer for U.K. COVID-19 vaccine trial Elisa Granato is alive, contrary to claim in viral article
CLAIM
Elisa Granato, the first volunteer who availed herself in Oxford for a jab in the first Europe human trial of a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus pandemic has died.
SOURCE: James Alami, News NT
Published: 27 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Claim that CO2 is cooling the planet is misleading, anthropogenic CO2 emissions overall cause global warming
CLAIM
Global warming slowing down? 'Ironic' study finds more CO2 has slightly cooled the planet
SOURCE: Sebastian Kettley, Express
Published: 24 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Eating alkaline food cannot prevent or cure COVID-19
CLAIM
The pH for the coronavirus varies from 5.5 to 8.5. What we need to do to defeat the coronavirus is to consume more alkaline foods above the virus’ pH level.
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 22 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier inaccurately claims that the novel coronavirus is man-made and contains genetic material from HIV
CLAIM
this coronavirus genome contained sequences of another virus […] the HIV virus (AIDS virus)
SOURCE: Luc Montagnier, Gilmore Health News, Zero Hedge
Published: 20 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Human activities have dramatically increased atmospheric CO2 levels, causing imbalances in the global carbon cycle
CLAIM
Human additions of CO2 are in the margin of error of current measurements and the gradual increase in CO2 is mainly from oceans degassing as the planet slowly emerges from the last ice age.
SOURCE: Cole Ryan, I Love Carbon Dioxide
Published: 20 Apr 2020
VERDICT
Human-induced increases in greenhouse gases are the primary driver of global warming, contrary to claims in CFACT article
CLAIM
They tell us that we are the primary forces controlling earth temperatures by the burning of fossil fuels and releasing their carbon dioxide. I hope my readers can recognize the absurdity of their claims. … increasing sunspots are linked to increases in earth temperature
SOURCE: Jay Lehr, CFACT
Published: 15 Apr 2020
VERDICT