The Latest Fact Checks from the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) 03/23/2020

The code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network IFCN at Poynter is a series of commitments organizations abide by to promote excellence in fact-checking. The following fact checks come from IFCN fact checkers. (D. Van Zandt)

The Claim: Holding your breath for 10 seconds every day can self-check for COVID-19

USA Today Fact Check rating: False

Fact check: Will holding your breath for 10 seconds reveal if you have coronavirus?

Claim by Donald Trump: The World Health Organization test for the new coronavirus “was a bad test.”

FactCheck.org rating: False

Biden, Trump Wrong About WHO Coronavirus Tests

CLAIM: The first person to receive an experimental coronavirus vaccine during testing in Seattle is a crisis actor

AP Fact Check rating: False

NOT REAL NEWS: Another week of false coronavirus content

Claim by Facebook posts: COVID-19 is no worse than other outbreaks that have occurred in “every election year.”

FactCheck.org rating: False

Viral Posts Falsely Align Viruses to Election Years

Claim via Social Media: Are helicopters being used to spray disinfectants into the air to eradicate the coronavirus?

Lead Stories rating: False

Fact Check: Helicopters Are NOT Spraying Disinfectants To Try To Eradicate Coronavirus

International Fact Checks

Claim by social media users: Video of ‘wet market’ selling wild animals in Wuhan, China

Alt News rating: False

Coronavirus: Video from Indonesia shared as wet food market in China’s Wuhan

Claim by Twitter and WhatsApp users: Dolphins and swans return to Italy waterways after Covid-19 lockdown.

India Today rating: Mostly false

Fact Check: Has the Covid-19 lockdown returned dolphins and swans to Italian waterways?

Claim by All India Radio: Janata curfew will stop coronavirus outbreak.

Scroll.in rating: False

Coronavirus: Modi’s 14-hour ‘janata curfew’ won’t break cycle of infection, as viral messages claim

Disclaimer: We are providing links to fact checks by the IFCN. If you do not agree with a fact check, please directly contact the source of that fact check.

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