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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives almost overnight. In this unsettling time, with rapidly shifting information inundating social media and the news, it’s not surprising that coronavirus myths still persist.
The pandemic becomes an 'infodemic'

Even before the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, myths, misinformation, and misconceptions were spreading across the internet.
“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” the WHO director-general stated early in the outbreak.
The novel coronavirus is thought to have appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Little was known about the virus at first, which allowed misinformation to spread. Some early coronavirus myths were propagated out of ignorance and led to racist attacks on Asian people and Asian American communities. Some were conspiracy theories or rumors with political agendas behind them. Many were spread out of fear of the unknown.
Coronavirus myths: debunked

As time has passed, most of us have learned a few basic facts about the coronavirus, such as the best ways to protect yourselfand your family from the virus. But some early misconceptions are still commonly believed, and some new ones have emerged. Here are some of the biggest coronavirus myths you might come across online or heard about from a friend.
COVID-19 is just another type of flu
COVID-19 is much deadlier than the flu.
“The reason it’s different is that it’s very very much more transmissible than flu and more importantly, it’s significantly more serious,” Dr. Anthony Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a prominent member of the nation's coronavirus task force — told Steph Curry in their recent Q&A.
“Let me give you some very quick numbers: The overall mortality of seasonal flu that you and I confront every year is about 0.1%. The overall mortality of coronavirus is about 1%. Sometimes, like in China, it was up to 2-3%. Which means it's at least ten times more serious than the typical influenza,” Fauci said.
Additionally, unlike the flu, we don’t have a vaccine or reliable treatments yet.
Only older people are at risk of severe illness
Although the CDC states that older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for a severe case, data shows that healthy, younger people — even children — can get dangerous, life-threatening symptoms. Courtney Baker shared a harrowing story about her 7-month-old son Arthur’s battle with the coronavirus with CafeMom and emphasized, “We listened to everything, and we still caught it."
The coronavirus was deliberately created as a bioweapon
Snopes has effectively debunked this rumor, but the exact origins of the virus remain unknown. Scientists have multiple theories and many researchers believe that the virus originated in bats and somehow jumped to humans. Some speculate that a lab accident at a Chinese facility near Wuhan could have sparked the pandemic.
The virus is caused by 5G wireless transmissions
Super-fast 5G is an upgrade to current wireless technology, and conspiracy theorists have made unfounded claims that links its rollout to the coronavirus. This myth has been roundly debunked. The CDC states that viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks and that COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks.
Only people who have symptoms can spread the virus
This coronavirus myth is unfortunately false. It has been estimated that anywhere between 25% and 50% of people who have COVID-19 either have no symptoms or are presymptomatic when tested. Research has shown that the disease is most infectious before symptoms appear.
The truth about coronavirus deniers
Initially, many coronavirus deniers were Trump supporters who claimed, without merit, that the pandemic was the media’s attempt to bring him down. Some right-wing conspiracy theorists tried to prove that hospitals were in fact empty and not treating coronavirus patients. In mid-April, coronavirus denial morphed into conservative backlash against the social distancing rules that have flattened the curve and kept people safe.
Protect yourself against coronavirus myths

It’s important to protect yourself and your family — especially children, who can be misled and become unnecessarily fearful — from misleading and false information. The best defense against this “infodemic” of myths and misinformation is to turn to trusted sources:
- Government agencies, such as Centers for Disease Control, Coronavirus.gov, or those of your state, county, and city
- Reliable media outlets, such as Google News, Time, or the Facebook Coronavirus Information Center
It’s also important to prevent the sharing of misleading information and memes. The media resource First Draft offers some tips and tools to verify online information. Among them:
- Is the source impartial, or does it appear to have an agenda?
- Can you find other evidence that verifies the claim?
- Does the meme seem designed to arouse emotions, whether positive or negative?