Is the U.S. pushing an under-tested, dangerous coronavirus vaccine on unwilling people as part of a depopulation agenda? And was the virus man-made and weaponized in U.S. and Chinese labs? No, these claims are untrue. There are no plans to force people to be vaccinated, no vaccine has been approved, and there is no evidence the virus was created in…

Do blue masks cause symptoms similar to COVID-19 because they are sprayed with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)? No, that's not true: Medical experts said only some masks are sprayed with PTFE, but those that are would not be a concern at temperatures below 300 degrees. Meat begins to denature above 105 degrees. Mask wearers would suffer bodily tissue degradation, similar to cooking,…

Did over 220 million Americans die in the last several months from COVID-19? No, that's not true: That number is way too high. According to data provided by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, there have been less than 230,000 deaths associated with the virus. The statement was made by Sen. Kamala…

Are flu cases "down 98% across the globe"? That's unclear: Lead Stories could find no evidence to support a Twitter user's un-bolstered claim that cases fell 98% worldwide. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report shows a drop of 98%, but only at U.S. labs, not worldwide. A journalist who cites that figure says that she calculated that…

Does Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data "reveal" that COVID-19 death totals have been exaggerated by hospitals counting heart attacks as COVID deaths? No, that's not true: Hospitals don't fill out death certificates, doctors and/or medical examiners do. The claim relies on misinterpretation of death certificates. Death certificates record the sequence of events by which humans succumb to a…

Are doctors being paid to falsify death certificates, pumping up the COVID-19 death toll by a factor of more than 16 times the real number? No, that's not true. The person making the claim misstates the difference between underlying and immediate causes of death, and fabricates without evidence the claim that doctors are being paid a bounty for falsifying death…

Did Dr. Anthony Fauci -- a leader of the U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic -- write a research study in 2008 that proves the unmasked buried the masked during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and that masks were the reason so many died of bacterial pneumonia? No, that's not true: Fauci's research report describes a lethal interaction of…

Did an anti-mask group of doctors prove its claim that masks are "irrelevant" to the prevention of COVID-19? No, that's not true: The 19 people in white lab coats who stood in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to make the claim did not provide a citation to published research papers nor supply records to support their claim that masks…

Did Anthony Weiner's laptop contain "proof Hillary Clinton & her associates are involved in child trafficking and pedophilia"? No, that's not true: The claim is part of a debunked conspiracy theory that has circulated for years. There's absolutely no evidence to support it. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on October 18, 2020. The post included screenshots…

Did Pennsylvania state officials order hunters to wear orange face masks in the field? No, that's not true: The Pennsylvania Game Commission said it has not issued such an order. A similar claim for New York hunters also is not true. The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by the prank site channel22news.com under the title "Tom Wolf…

Did New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo order all hunters in the state to wear an orange face mask while in the field? No, that's not true: There have been no announcements from the governor's office or the state agency that regulates hunters that would require hunters to wear the orange face masks. A similar claim about hunters in Pennsylvania also…

Did Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden say if he is elected president, he will lock down the country until a vaccine is ready and everyone is vaccinated? No, that's not true: It's a fake quote. Although Biden has said he would listen to the scientists' recommendations when it comes to responding to COVID-19, which could include shutting down the country…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump die of COVID-19 October 12, 2020? No, that's not true: President Trump appeared on NBC in a live town hall, which ended at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 15, 2020. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) where it was published on October 12, 2020. It featured a fake CNN logo and…

Did a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report conclude masks are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19? No, that's not true: The study concluded new safety measures are needed at dining establishments because even mask-wearers who went out for drinks or meals were twice as likely to be infected as those who did not. Plus, an…

Is it true that the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, that false positives and rapid tests put the rate of infection near zero and that there will be no second wave of infections? No, none of those claims is true. Experts treating and researching COVID-19 say the claims by a former Pfizer scientist are not supported by the latest research. They…

Is it true that, even with the coronavirus pandemic, the United States is on pace to have fewer total deaths this year than in both 2018 and 2019? No, a rough estimate doesn't account for the complexity of seasonal changes in death rates. The year is just over nine months old, and with reports warning of a "twindemic" with the…

Were embryonic stem cells used in the development of Regeneron, the antibody treatment given to President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the antibody cocktail, told Lead Stories that it did not use such cells in the development of its therapy. However, the treatment was tested using cells that were originally derived from an aborted…

Did President Trump contract COVID-19 and recover from it in four days? No, that's not true: The timeline is subject to debate, but White House statements indicate the president tested positive on October 1, 2020. Trump announced Oct. 7, 2020 that therapeutic drugs had him feeling better, but no medical expert has declared him recovered and he is still considered…

In a video update on his medical condition, did President Donald Trump say he has "USA" instead of DNA and that doctors never saw a body kill coronavirus the way his does? No, that's not true: There is no record of Trump saying that and he doesn't say it in the video clip in which he was purported to have…

Did the White House doctor say there is zero evidence of a live virus in President Trump? No, that's not true. In word and deed, the White House and Dr. Sean P. Conley have made it clear the president is infected with COVID-19, likely infectious and that antibodies in his blood tests point to the existence of viruses in his…