With U.S. cases peaking in many parts of the country, fact-checking organizations are finding a tremendous number of falsehoods about the pandemic in politics, news organizations, and social media, while psychologists are trying to understand why people are inclined to share the inaccuracies, according to a study published March 17 in PsyArXiv PrePrints. “We need a vaccine against misinformation,” said Mike Ryan, MD, the executive director of the health emergencies program at the World Health Organization (WHO), at a briefing on the outbreak in February. He’s not alone in this opinion. On March 31, scientists published a paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine expressing concern about misleading information surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential treatments for COVID-19. The authors of the paper were particularly alarmed by the death of a man who drank fish tank cleaner because of its chloroquine content, as reported by CNN on March 25. RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Coronavirus
Misconception 1: Wearing a Face Mask Will Protect You From Getting Infected
Since the first outbreaks began in the United States, the use of face masks by the general public has been a highly debated and deeply confusing topic. After initially claiming that only medical professionals needed to wear face masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an about-face and updated its stance, advising everyone to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as in grocery stores or pharmacies. Wearing cloth face coverings is especially important in coronavirus hot spots, says the CDC. But the purpose of masks isn’t to prevent healthy people from becoming infected with the coronavirus: Only medical-grade face masks (the N95 or N100 models that should be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders) can filter out a high enough percentage of airborne viral particles, says Bruce Y. Lee, MD, a professor of health policy at CUNY School of Public Health in New York City and the founder of Public Health Informatics Computational Operations Research (PHICOR). The main benefit of cloth face coverings for the general public is to prevent people who are already infected from spreading the coronavirus through respiratory droplets from the nose and mouth. People can transmit the coronavirus even when they are asymptomatic, and as many as 25 percent of people with the coronavirus show no signs of infection, said CDC’s director, Robert Redfield, MD, in an NPR interview on March 30. The CDC advises routinely washing cloth face coverings. Dr. Lee also suggests that you:
Clean your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer before and after putting on the mask.Make sure the mask fits snugly (facial hair can interfere with this).Avoid touching the mask while wearing it, even though it may be uncomfortable.
RELATED: Superspreaders: Could You Unknowingly Infect Hundreds — or Thousands — of People With the Coronavirus? About 3 in 10 Americans believe COVID-19 was created by humans in a lab, according to a Pew Research Center poll published April 8. Also gaining traction are claims that radio waves from 5G mobile networks (fifth generation communication technologies) are increasing infection rates by suppressing people’s immune systems — despite COVID-19’s spread in many countries that do not have 5G, according to WHO. This idea led arsonists in England to attack 5G masts, reports the BBC, and caused major tech companies to ban ads and social posts linking the pandemic to high-speed networks, according to an article in CNET. But a study published in the journal Nature Medicine on March 17 confirmed through genetic analysis that SARS-CoV-2 (the official name of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19) was not man-made and did in fact originate in animals. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats, according to the CDC. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV (the virus responsible for the disease MERS) and SARS-CoV (the virus behind the disease SARS) — and all three of these viruses have their origins in bats. RELATED: Allergies or COVID-19? Here’s How to Tell the Difference
Misconception 3: Products Imported From China Can Infect You
The coronavirus’s origins in Wuhan, China, have given rise to the misconception that Chinese imports can carry the virus. What’s more, Dr. Lee reports that at a public information session in New York City in early February, an audience member asked, “Is it safe to eat Chinese food?” Although the virus can survive for a short period on some surfaces, it’s unlikely to be spread from products or packaging shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures, according to the CDC. Currently, there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 from imported goods, and there have not been any cases of the disease in the United States associated with imported goods. In a March 26 interview with The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, advised viewers not to worry about contracting the coronavirus from products made in China. “I don’t think we need to get completely obsessed about packages that come in,” Dr. Fauci said. Information about the symptoms of COVID-19 has changed since the outbreak first started, but the most common indications of infection are dry cough, tiredness, and fever. If you think you have been exposed to the coronavirus and develop symptoms, the best thing to do is call your healthcare provider, says the CDC, which also offers a Coronavirus Self-Checker. RELATED: Could Your Digestive Issues Be a Symptom of COVID-19?
Misconception 5: Ibuprofen Can Make Coronavirus Symptoms Worse
In mid-March, the French minister of health tweeted that people infected with the novel coronavirus should refrain from using ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or aspirin to treat symptoms out of fear of worsening the illness, according to NPR. But according to the WHO, there is currently no evidence to support that claim.
Misconception 6: Once You Recover From COVID-19, You Can’t Get It Again
According to Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, this is still an open question. He points to cases involving a few individuals who recovered from the disease but then developed a second, mild case. While scientists don’t have definitive answers, one thing is certain: People need to develop “immune memory” to remain healthy. At the moment, it looks like the majority of people who’ve had COVID-19 are unlikely to get it again in the short term, but “we don’t know that for 100 percent certain because we haven’t done the study to see re-challenges to see if they’re all protected,” said Fauci on The Daily Show. To better understand reinfection risk and population immunity, the FDA granted emergency authorization to Mount Sinai Laboratory in New York City to identify antibodies against the virus, according to UpToDate’s literature review of COVID-19, last updated April 17, 2020. Smoking and taking herbal remedies or antibiotics are also ineffective against the coronavirus, according to the WHO. RELATED: Should You DIY Hand Sanitizer? Health Experts Weigh in
Misconception 8: Young People Can’t Get the Coronavirus
While the risk of serious complications and death is higher in older age groups, younger people are becoming infected with coronavirus and getting sick. A preliminary report released March 18 by the CDC suggested that while most Americans who develop serious complications from COVID-19 are age 45 and older, a sizable proportion are young adults. About 38 percent of individuals hospitalized because of the virus are between 20 and 54 years old, according to the study. The battle against misinformation has led some cities to turn to popular social media platforms like TikTok to reach the Generation Z population (ages 16 to 24), according to an article published April 2 in Smart Cities Dive. This move was specifically aimed at quelling the misconception that only older people are at risk of contracting COVID-19. RELATED: Expert Tips for Coping With COVID-19 at Home
Misconception 9: The Virus Will Go Away When the Weather Warms Up
The flu, another viral illness, hits its peak between December and February, leading some people to assert that COVID-19 will also “miraculously go away" in the warmer months. Health experts are careful to say that any decreases will likely be minimal. “Other coronaviruses have seasonality, so there might be some reduction,” says Dr. Adalja, adding that there’s no way to know for sure if this is the case with the coronavirus behind COVID-19. “While we may expect modest declines in the contagiousness of SARS-CoV-2 in warmer, wetter weather and perhaps with the closing of schools in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, it is not reasonable to expect these declines alone to slow transmission enough to make a big dent,” writes Marc Lipsitch, DPhil, the director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. RELATED: A Coronavirus Checklist: Prepare for the Possibility You May Get Very Sick
Misconception 10: Social Media Is a Reliable Resource for Updates on the Pandemic
At a time when what experts believe to be true seems to change nearly every day, it’s important to know which sources to trust. If you see something fishy on what appears to be a news site, first check if it is indeed a legitimate source, suggests Kathleen Carley, the director of computational analysis and organizational systems at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She recommends checking the trustworthiness of a site on fact-checking websites like Snopes or Poynter. According to Carley, there are four main ways to spread false information:
Intentional (disinformation) Telling people to do something that is potentially harmful, such as drinking bleach as a COVID-19 cure
Satirical (misinformation) Making a joke, such as recommending Corona beer as a cure for the coronavirus
Ignorant (misinformation) Sharing what seems like a good piece of medical advice but that turns out to be inaccurate
Anecdotal (disinformation) Sharing personal stories that are logically flawed and targeted at specific groups.
In addition to vetting sources, Carley advises against sharing dubious information ironically, because not everyone will understand your intent. “There’s a big range of reasons why false information is spreading,” Carley says. Ultimately, “those stories being shared can actually kill people.” RELATED: 5 Ways the Coronavirus Is Changing Everyday Life Additional reporting by Brianna Majsiak.
