Isolated

Are social distancing guidelines and the COVID-19 pandemic part of a government plot to track and control citizens? No, that's not true: Osteopath Rashid Buttar, a practitioner who has been sued for fraud, made the claim in a video rant that also included other false claims. There is no evidence to support Dr. Buttar's claim that the government wants Americans…

Did Bill Gates really suggest eliminating about 10 to 15 percent of the global human population using vaccines during a TED talk in 2010? No, that's not true: Gates' remark was about possible strategies to slow down population growth in order to reduce CO2 emissions. In the larger context of his talk Gates is saying this strategy does not help…

Does a map show the number of missing children by county in Ohio and is it the "human trafficking capital of the entire USA"? No, that's not true: the map shows the number of reports about missing children in 2018 but omits the fact that over 98% of them were found safe and sound. Only six kids were abducted by…

Did the Ventura County public health director say that the California county will be forcibly moving people infected with COVID-19 out of their homes into quarantine? No, that's not true. The video of Public Health DirectorDr. Robert Levin giving details about the county's contact tracing program went viral but he did not say they were going to force infected people…

Did Vice President Mike Pence deliver empty boxes of PPE to a hospital as a publicity stunt? No, this is not true: Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel mocked a video of Pence delivering boxes that were "empty" to a health care center amid the coronavirus outbreak, but the clip he used was edited and taken out of context.…

Do physicians and other medical workers need to insert a swab through the nasal passage to the top of the throat of possible patients to test for COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus. Yes, that's true: A meme on social media illustrating the test is accurate, but also suggests that people not wanting to endure the pain of the procedure should…

Did the Massachusetts State Police issue a warning about people wearing hazmat suits attempting to rob residents while in their homes? Yes, that appears to be partially true, and here is some context: The Massachusetts State Police has posted on Facebook about this possible scam, which it says may have happened at least once already. However, the details in the…

Can a coronavirus vaccine used on dogs be used to inoculate people against COVID-19, the virus outbreak that has infected tens of thousands of people and left thousands others dead? No, that's not true: There is currently no vaccine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019, known as COVID-19, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and…

Did Australian Gold Coast hospital staff roll in a Wilson volleyball to keep actor Tom Hanks company in quarantine? No, that's not true: The story is from a satirical online newspaper that some people have described as Australia's version of "The Onion." Fans of the movie "Castaway" will recognize the ball as "Wilson," an imaginary character in the form of…

Did Joe Biden's presidential campaign selectively edit several soundbites from President Trump in a newly-released advertisement? Yes, that's true, and here is some context: After Twitter labeled a video of Biden that was shared by Trump as "manipulated media," the Trump campaign fired back. It has accused Twitter of bias for not doing the same to a campaign ad Biden's…