Get the facts on the new coronavirus
Our fact checkers are fighting to protect people from bad information about Covid-19.
How you can fact check claims about the new coronavirus
How you can fact check claims about the new coronavirus
There’s a lot of misinformation about Covid-19, so Full Fact is sharing its top tips on how to check if a claim is true.
What we know, and what we don’t, about the true coronavirus death toll
And why it’s too soon to compare the UK’s with other countries
Has the government really hit 100,000 tests a day, and what happens next?
Full Fact has looked into the reality behind the government’s testing target.
Causes
Study doesn’t show that children are ‘silent super-spreaders’ of coronavirus
A study into the quantity of Covid-19 carried by some children does not prove they are ‘silent super-spreaders’.
You cannot catch Legionnaires’ disease from a mask
Legionnaires’ disease is a bacterial infection caught through water.
There is no proof you’re more likely to get Covid-19 if you’re tall
It was widely reported that a survey showed men over six foot tall are more likely to be infected with coronavirus. However, the research does not prove this.
Symptoms
What did the lockdown rules say when Dominic Cummings travelled to Durham?
Some of his choices were not specifically permitted, and it appears that he did not fully explore the alternatives, as was required.
Can children transmit the new coronavirus to other people?
The evidence to date suggests that it is uncommon for children to transmit the new coronavirus. Widespread antibody testing is required to fully understand this issue.
Testing positive for Covid-19 doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get ill
A headline in the Times conflated testing positive with Covid-19 to being “ill” with the disease.
Prevention
The government is not planning to roll out an untested Covid-19 vaccine
A government consultation about unlicensed vaccines has been misunderstood online.
People deciding not to get tested will not make it look as though coronavirus has been wiped out
Covid-19’s prevalence in the community is measured by more than the number of positive tests.
Reopening universities will almost certainly not cause 50,000 deaths
This assumes that every student in the UK catches Covid-19 this autumn, and that nothing is done to stop it
Treatment
Unlicensed vaccine manufacturers are immune from some, but not all, civil liability
A vaccine manufacturer would still be liable if their unlicensed product was defective.
We don’t know whether “misinformation” killed 800 people
Several news reports based this claim on a scientific paper that provided little evidence in support of the figure
mRNA vaccines are being developed for Covid-19, but they do not change your DNA
mRNA works by instructing cells, not altering DNA.
Lockdown
This is what the guidelines are for social distancing in parliament.
The guidance includes a maximum number of people in the chamber and remote voting.
There’s no connection between new biometrics legislation and Covid-19 tests
This legislation is to do with biometric data that is of interest to national security.
What do social distancing laws say about ‘mingling’?
Updates to the coronavirus law and guidance place restrictions on certain gatherings.
Statistics
This post comparing deaths in August is a guess
We don’t yet have data on the number of deaths from suicide in August 2020.
There’s no evidence for how many people took part in ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ or later died from Covid-19
A Facebook post makes misleading claims about the survival rates of people eating in restaurants without masks.
Lots of people are getting confused over testing figures
Many people in media and politics are mistakenly comparing two different things.
Viral posts on social media
People did die of Covid-19 in Ireland in August
A viral post compares the number of deaths from cancer, suicide, alcohol and Covid-19 in Ireland, but it gets a lot wrong.
The government is not planning to roll out an untested Covid-19 vaccine
A government consultation about unlicensed vaccines has been misunderstood online.
Almost all of these claims about viruses are wrong
Posts claiming that viruses are just dead material and the body contains many viruses don’t disprove the fact that Covid-19 can be very harmful.
Ask Full Fact
How does a Covid-19 test work?
The common cold will not produce a positive result on a Covid-19 diagnostic test.
Covid-19 kills far more than 0.1% of the people who catch it
The real death rate from Covid-19 is probably about five or ten times higher than 0.1%
What are the quarantine rules if you return to the UK from abroad?
Our readers have asked us to explain the guidance around self-isolating if you have visited another country.
All Covid-19 fact checks
People did die of Covid-19 in Ireland in August
A viral post compares the number of deaths from cancer, suicide, alcohol and Covid-19 in Ireland, but it gets a lot wrong.
How does a Covid-19 test work?
The common cold will not produce a positive result on a Covid-19 diagnostic test.
The government is not planning to roll out an untested Covid-19 vaccine
A government consultation about unlicensed vaccines has been misunderstood online.
Thank you
We are grateful to all our donors for supporting us to tackle dangerously false claims during this global crisis.