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News article3 December 2020

COVID-19 media surveillance - 3 December 2020

This media surveillance collects articles reported through publicly available web sites.

Geolocations mentioned in coronavirus media coverage showing large clusters of news reports.
Geolocations mentioned in coronavirus media coverage showing large clusters of news reports.
© European Union, 2020, EMM/MEDISYS

This media surveillance collects articles reported through publicly available web sites.

It is created with the Europe Media Monitor (EMM).

The selection and placement of stories are determined automatically by a computer program.

Headlines

Twitter

The following news were found among the most mentioned/retweeted items:

  • "Coronavirus vaccine: Pfizer given protection from legal action by UK government. Pfizer’s UK boss refuses to explain why the business needs protection from legal action." (independent)
  • "Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine judged safe for use in UK" (bbc)
  • "Hungarian MEP admits he was at lockdown ‘orgy’. József Szájer says he was at party broken up by police for breaking coronavirus rules." (politico)
  • "In nine [US] states, at least 1 in 1,000 people have died of coronavirus-linked causes." (washingtonpost)
  • "Pompeo invites hundreds to indoor holiday parties after subordinates are warned against hosting ‘non-mission critical events’" (washingtonpost)

The most mentioned English sources were the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post and BBC.

El Diario, RT (Spanish Version), Libertad Digital, CNN (Spanish Version) and El Universal, and Le Monde and Le Parisien were among the most mentioned Spanish and French sources, respectively.

Fact Check

Fact checked: downplaying COVID-19

  • Fact checkers address a meme claiming that the coronavirus “is so deadly the #1 treatment is to go home for 14 days until it goes away on its own (99.6% survivable with no treatment whatsoever)”. Fact checkers report that while it is true that many COVID-19 cases do not result in serious symptoms, others require hospital care and it is deceptive to say the top treatment is to “go home for 14 days” (aapfactcheck).
  • German fact checkers address claims that the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing only because more tests are being carried out, noting that while the claim is not entirely false, it is missing context as the current increase in cases cannot be explained by more tests alone (correctiv).

Fact checked: anti-mask claims

  • Fact checkers debunk claims that a recent Danish study shows that face masks are useless for COVID-19, reporting that the study found that face masks did not have a large protective effect for wearers, not that masks provide no protection at all or do not offer benefits to others (factcheckorg).

Fact checked: conspiracy theories

  • Fact checkers address a social media post claiming that an image of two people in protective equipment carrying a body bag is proof that the pandemic is a hoax as the body bag does not seem to be heavy to carry (afpfactual).
  • Fact checkers address Canadian pathologist Roger Hodkinson’s claims that COVID-19 is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated”, reporting that Canadian authorities and medical experts do not agree with his theories about the pandemic and point out that his claims are not supported by scientific evidence (afpsprawdzam).

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2 FEBRUARY 2022
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Contact

Mail to JRC-EMM-SUPPORTatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: COVID-19%20media%20surveillance) (JRC-EMM-SUPPORT[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Related Content

Europe Media Monitor (EMM)

Medical Information System - MEDISYS

Details

Publication date
3 December 2020