A video circulating on multiple social media platforms features a social media influencer who is pretending to be a medical expert. The man claims that flu cases are being miscategorized as COVID-19. The person claims to have collected 1,500 positive COVID-19 samples that, when viewed under a microscope, were all actually influenza viruses.
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The persistence of the misinformation elevates it from low to medium risk. Emphasizing that this exact claim, almost word-for-word, has circulated online and been debunked several times is recommended. In May, the same video circulated, and the man in it was identified not as a medical professional or research scientist but as an influencer using a false name. Last January, the claim was falsely attributed to a Cornell professor. There is no evidence that any large-scale analysis of the kind described in the video has ever been conducted. Debunking messaging may explain that COVID-19 and influenza are caused by different viruses that can easily be distinguished. Fact Checking Source(s): Lead Stories
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