It flashes across your Facebook feed: coronavirus “hates the sun” and can be prevented by taking “a few sips of water every 15 minutes.” Different versions of the post refer to a Stanford University hospital board member, Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases and a doctor from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The post is a fabrication. There’s no evidence that sipping water stops the virus. The doctor from the Children’s Hospital who supposedly endorsed the advice is a neurosurgeon, not an epidemiologist. Stanford Health Care confirmed “the post is not from Stanford” and says it “contains inaccurate information.”
These falsehoods spread confusion at a time when clarity is in short supply. If everyone took a few simple steps to fact-check information, we’d all be better off. And calmer too. There’s going to be a lot more misinformation about coronavirus—here’s how you can tell what’s credible from what’s not.
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