COVID-19 media surveillance - 7 May 2020

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

• USA: President Trump said that the White House’s coronavirus task force would stay in place “indefinitely”
• UK: Prime minister Johnson’s new target of 200,000 tests a day was immediately dismissed by critics; Boris Johnson is expected to deliver an address to the nation next Sunday to unveil how Britain intends to 'unlock the UK economy'; Bank of England warns UK economy could shrink 14% in 2020
• Spain: all of Spain’s regions request moving from Phase 0 to Phase 1 apart from Catalonia and Castilla y León; daily coronavirus fatalities rise to 244 after three days below 200
• Italy's daily coronavirus death toll and new cases' tally both rise
• France: Prime Minister Édouard Philippe will present today the details of the start of de-escalation of lockdown
• Germany: a group of lawmakers from Angela Merkel's party have called for an immediate end to checks at Germany's borders; confirmed cases rise by 1,284 to 166,091
• Belgium reaches 50,781 confirmed cases
• Luxembourg: 35 million face masks will be distributed starting 25 May
• Poland moves to delay presidential election due to covid-19
• Russia records new record daily rise in cases, 11,231 additional cases over the last 24 hours
• India: the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 52,000-mark on Thursday with 52,952 total cases
• Indonesia will revise 'overall data' on cases as it scrambles to ramp up testing
• Brazil registered a record number of cases and deaths on Wednesday, prompting the health minister to consider strict lockdowns in particularly hard-hit areas
• Singapore: total number of cases could reach 40,000 in May
• South Korea reports the first local infection in four days after a man who visited bars and clubs in Seoul tested positive
• Japan: Schools reopen in some parts of Japan; the 13 hardest-hit prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka reported 104 cases

Twitter

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

• "How Kushner’s volunteer force lead a fumbling hunt for medical supplies” (nytimes)
• "Third Russian doctor plunges from Covid hospital window: Medic, 37, is now fighting for life... just days after warning of PPE shortages and being forced to work despite being infected" (dailymail)

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

Okdiario, Libertad digital, Infobae, ABC, El Universal, El País and RT (Spanish version) and Le Monde and Le Parisien were among the most mentioned Spanish and French sources, respectively.

Extracted Quotes

Tedros Adhanom (WHO, Director General):

"The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach."

Fact Check

Fact checked: claims by public institutions

• Fact checkers debunk claims that the WHO said abortions must continue to contain COVID-19, explaining that while the WHO did clarify that “services related to reproductive health are considered to be part of essential services during the COVID-19 outbreak”, it never said that abortion is part of the coronavirus containment plan (observador).

Fact checked: health claims

• Fact checkers debunk Tanzanian President’s claim that inhaling steam over 100°C will “disintegrate” the coronavirus because it is “fat”, reporting that there is no scientific evidence that very high temperatures or inhaling steam “kills” COVID-19 (africacheck).
• Fact checkers debunk claims that the prolonged use of face masks causes hypoxia (afp).
• Fact checkers debunk claims that lemon and vitamin C prevent COVID-19 (newtral).

Fact checked: conspiracy theories

• Fact checkers debunk a viral social media post claiming that the existence of a canine coronavirus vaccine demonstrates that a human vaccine for COVID-19 should already exist, explaining that the misunderstanding probably stems from the word "coronavirus" and how it pertains to a family of viruses (vishvasnews).
• Fact checkers debunk claims that Nobel Prize-winning scientist Tasuku Honjo said SARS-CoV-2 is not natural and originated in a Wuhan lab (aosfatos, correctiv).

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Contact

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

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