fact checking

Mostly false: “History seems to be repeating itself, in the Middle Ages the Plague also entered Europe via Italy”

Bob Van Hee, professor emeritus in medical history of the University of Antwerp made a statement in an interview on the website of Flemish public broadcaster VRT that made some people frown: ‘History seems to be repeating itself: in the Middle Ages, the Plague also entered Europe via Italy, just as COVID-19’. The claim turns…

True: “Microchips are getting under the skin of thousands in Sweden”

News website euronews.com published a story about microchips in Sweden. Last update was introduced on 15th of May 2020. Journalist Pascale Davies wrote: “Thousands of people in Sweden are inserting tiny microchips under their skin”. The claim turns out to be true. Microchips implanted into one’s body are supposed to make daily life convenient. They…

Mostly true: “63 per cent of the Belgian population are supporting the measures of the lockdown, with young adults the support is less dan 50 per cent”

    The Belgian tabloid newspaper Het Nieuwsblad published on 22 April 2020 an article with the title ‘Our motivation to comply with corona measures is visibly: how can we keep it up?’. In the article, the journalist Tom Le Bacq gives rates about how many people are supporting the measures of the lock down.

False: “Not a single cent of state funds to help the self-employed cover their cost of living has arrived”

Dominik Nepp, non-acting Vice Mayor of Vienna and head of the city’s far-right Freedom Party, stated in a speech that “not a single cent” of public funds meant to support Austrian small businesses during the Covid-19-outbreak had reached them as of May 1st. This statement is false. Labour Day, May 1st, in Vienna. Austrian politicians…