Factchecks

May292020

Uncheckable: Non-medical face masks are more infection-nurturing than virus-repellent if they are consistently put in handbags and reworn.

Fact-check, UncheckableBy University of Applied Sciences for Mgmt and Comm Vienna, AT May 29, 2020

During an interview with the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard Austrian health expert Claudia Wild stated the following: “The climate between the authority- or virus-thralled people and the ones who actually looked into the subject of these ridiculous masks making any kind of difference regarding infection, is getting worse. They (non-medical face masks) are more…

May282020

Mostly false: Matteo Salvini: “Recovery Fund is a loan, like the ESM”

Fact-check, Mostly falseBy Catholic University of Milan, IT May 28, 2020

On the 20th of May, Matteo Salvini, leader of the Italian Far Right party “The league”, rejected the proposal for a post-Covid EU grant-based recovery plan, outlined by the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and unveiled in a surprising press conference on the 18th of May. A statement issued on…

May262020

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

Fact-check, Mostly falseBy AP University College, BE May 26, 2020

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…

May252020

False: “69% of sex offenders who commit gang rape in Spain are foreigners”

Fact-check, FalseBy Danish School of Media and Journalism May 25, 2020

On 13 February 2020, Santiago Abascal (leader of far-right wing political party in Spain, VOX) claimed in an interview in the Spanish public TV broadcaster (RTVE) that almost 70% of gang rapes in Spain are committed by foreigners. This claim is false.

May232020

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

Fact-check, TrueBy Adam Mickiewicz University, PL May 23, 2020

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…

May212020

Uncheckable: “Our seniors will be better protected from future pandemics if they age at home”

Fact-check, UncheckableBy Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, NL May 21, 2020

Monique Boutrand, a French central administration officer and expert on ageing issues, states in an article in Le Monde that letting retired people stay in their own homes will protect them better against future pandemics than when they live in retirement homes. This claim is uncheckable.

May192020

False: “Vaccination and chipping will be mandatory”

Fact-check, FalseBy University of Zagreb, HR May 19, 2020

Famous Croatian singer Tony Cetinski expressed his fear of vaccinating and chipping by claiming it is becoming mandatory and going as far as to predict that the future COVID-19 vaccine will be a disguise for injecting people with microchips. This happened on Facebook and Instagram and soon became the “talk of the town” across Croatian…

May162020

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”

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Danish School of Media and Journalism May 16, 2020

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.

May142020

True: “The new rules for obtaining a Schengen visa have come into force”

Fact-check, TrueBy South Ural State University, RU May 14, 2020

On February 2, 2020, new rules for obtaining a Schengen visa came into force. This was reported by the Russian online edition of RT on February 2, 2020. The claim is true.

May132020

Mostly False: “Romania has tripled its COVID-19 testing capacity’’

Fact-check, Mostly falseBy Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, NL May 13, 2020

“We have tripled the testing capacity of potential coronavirus patients! If a few days ago we could make 600 tests per day on average, today we can test approximately 1700 patients.” This claim by Romania’s vice prime minister Raluca Turan turns out to be mostly false.