Myths About COVID-19 You Need To Stop Believing Now

Browsing your phone and hanging out on social media a lot can give you the information you need to know in these trying times. COVID-19 has a lot of entries when you try to type it on your browser. All these claims can be very stressful to take-in especially when you are not sure whether you should believe what you saw online.

According to Statista, politics is not the only target of fake news or better-called Misinformation. Well and Good said that intentionally misleading videos and articles are published about COVID-19 online. They added that Cornell University researchers found that from around 1 million articles about COVID-19, 2.9 percent of this contains false claims.

(Photo: Fathromi Ramdlon)

Here are some of the myths about COVID-19 you need to stop believing now.

Spreading of the Virus is Community-Based

According to Jennifer Horney, Ph.D., founder and director of the Epidemiology program of the University of Delaware, even stories about people catching the virus from events or communal living situations, she emphasized that spreading of the virus can also happen from a small number of people.

She said that because people are now getting dragged off the ideas of social distancing, people have the thinking of "It's okay, it's just my family" which is not safe.

Face Mask Does Not Deteriorate the Immune System

While the Immune System is the target of coronavirus, wearing facemasks does not weaken your immune system at all.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), masks are key measures to suppress transmission and exposure to coronavirus.

In an interview with Well and Good, Rebecca Dutch, Ph.D., a virologist at the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine emphasized that there is no scientific basis for the argument that social wearing of a mask and social distancing weakens your immune system.

ALSO READ: 3 Cs to Avoid to Help Reduce the Risk of COVID-19, According to Infectious Disease Expert

COVID-19 Testing Does Not Lead To More Cases

According to Dr. Horney, people still do not understand that as long as there is no positive response or decrease of cases over time, we still have more cases even after doing more testing.

She added that the increase in cases is not because of the testing but it is because there are more cases of COVID-19 positive patients.

Risk-Free Indoor Gathering is Not Possible

In an interview with Well and Good Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH chief medical doctor of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials stressed that even indoors where everybody wears their mask, practices 6-feet social distancing, and wash their hands, the risk is still involved.

He emphasized that this idea rarely happens because people tend to take off their masks or get a little close to each other and that is where transmission occurs.

Transmission

Even after feeling better, COVID-19 patients can still be contagious.

It is remembered that President Trump was released sooner and declared by the White House as no longer contagious a little over a week.

According to Dr. Dutch, some cases like people being released from isolation sooner after several tests indicating that a load of the virus inside the body can no longer spread. However, she emphasized that without access to these kinds of tests, people should stick to the estimates to be sure of their status and safety.

Adherence on Wearing of Masks and Social Distancing

Dr. Horny stressed that even after recovering from the virus, experts believe in the possibility that reinfection may occur, that is why the wearing of a mask and social distancing should still be practiced.

She added that there are minimal but growing numbers of cases wherein people get COVID-19 positive the second time and incidences turning out that second infection is more severe than the first.

The US Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) posted on their website that wearing face masks in public settings such as events and gatherings, mass and public transportation, and anywhere with people around is highly encouraged.

Check out more news and information on COVID-19 on MD News Daily.