Curbing Fakes News Amid The Emergency Of Coronavirus

18 May 2020
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The coronavirus outbreak brought one of global disinformation about its origins, characteristics, possible cures, and victims. A boy named Yahir Coronavirus in Solitude, Atlantic? Cristiano Ronaldo turning his hotels into coronavirus hospitals? This is the count of the new “fake news” made by Colombiacheck.

Did you also believe that Cristiano Ronaldo had turned his hotels into coronavirus hospitals? Or that holding your breath for 10 seconds helped you identify if you had the virus infection? If yes, we are sorry to tell you that this was another one of the many false news stories that have emerged from the spread of the coronavirus these days.

With the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the spread of its disease (dubbed Covid-19), the “outbreak of disinformation” has come hand in hand, with a large number of false news spreading rapidly through WhatsApp networks and social networks. For this reason, more than 70 fact-checking media in more than 40 countries joined in an initiative that seeks to confirm the veracity or falsity of these publications.

Does holding your breath for 10 seconds help identify Covid-19 infection? – FALSE

On several Facebook pages and WhatsApp networks, a message was shared with “excellent advice” to identify “whether we are infected” or not with the new coronavirus (Covid 19). This consisted of taking a “self-exam” every morning, inhaling deeply, and holding the breath for 10 seconds. “If you can do it without coughing, without discomfort, it indicates that there is no fibrosis in the lungs,” that is, that there is no infection, assured the message that has also circulated in Spain, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

The information – which was also accompanied by instructions to take sips of water every 15 minutes to prevent infection – is false. The spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) explained to AFP Factual verifiers that “there is no evidence” that holding your breath is a valid technique to diagnose the new coronavirus. For now, the virus is only detected with a laboratory test.

Cristiano Ronaldo did not turn his hotels into coronavirus hospitals

This information was moved by various Twitter accounts and went viral worldwide. Even several sports media fell. They claimed that the Portuguese soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, had adapted his hotels to convert them into hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients.

It was the Portuguese media Observer that published a check in this regard and clarified: “The Pestana Group does not confirm this statement at all.” It’s a lie,” a source close to the company that owns hotels with the name of the Juventus crack, told the Observer. Another source close to the player also denied to the Observer that Ronaldo is thinking of any such measure. “

What is certain is that the player is currently in quarantine on his native Madeira Island in Portugal, after his teammate, Daniele Rugani, tested positive for Covid-19. The false message about coronavirus in Barranquilla.

A university professor assured in his Twitter account, without support, that is the capital of the Atlantic there were 30 confirmed cases of coronavirus last Sunday. He added in the trill that “Mayor Alejandro Char refuses to take the corresponding measures because they do not want to cause alarm in the population.”

At the time of this publication, everything the message says is false. There are no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Barranquilla, and the city’s mayor is also not Char (who ended his term on December 31), but Jaime Pumarejo.

No child has been baptized as ‘Yahir Coronavirus mosquera’

On Twitter, a montage made on a Caracol News note began to move in which it was seen that, supposedly, in Soledad (Atlántico), a child had been registered with the name “coronavirus.” “First Child registered as Yair Coronavirus Mosquera,” they titled. However, Caracol never reported this news, and the name does not appear in the National Registry’s database either.

The original news where they took the screenshot to intervene was about how the Soledad Police had rescued a baby stolen by a woman in the area.

Did a person with coronavirus pass out at the Cali Terminal? – FALSE

A Facebook page called Valle Noticias published this message: “Cali Alert With the arrival of the coronavirus: a patient faints on the transport in the Cali Terminal confirms that he has this disease.” The text was accompanied by the image of a person on the floor next to a man in a white uniform.

According to Colombiachek, the message was released the day the first case of a person infected with Covid-19 in Colombia was confirmed. However, when contacting the press officer of the Cali Terminal, Juan Guillermo Martínez, he reported that it was false news. In addition, when analyzing the image, the checking team showed that it was a montage and that people were digitally added to the photo.

Only consume news from authentic sources

The mainstream media continues to report different accounts. We recommend following The Levant, a news media outlet that covers developing stories in the region of Middle East. The Levant remains an authentic source of information. It is a bias-free, libertarian, independent news source. The journalism values followed by the platform have made the general public earn their respect.

As we face the pandemic and the problem of false rumors which continue to fuel fear and false information among the masses, we urge people to follow The Levant for verified and authentic subjects covered on the big stories.