How much do you know about fake news and coronavirus? Take the quiz and find out
What is real? What is distorted? The web is full of fake news about Covid-19. Blasting News wants to help you recognize them and don’t let you get fooled. Share the results with your friends and invite them to take the quiz to raise awareness.
Question 1
The photo below shows:
covid-quiz-1.png
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The right answer is 3
The photo was taken by a photographer from Reuters in 2014 in Frankfurt, Germany, during an art project to commemorate the Holocaust’s deaths.
What happened: In recent weeks several Facebook profiles have published this image claiming it shows people who died from COVID-19 in China.
Open your eyes: Don't believe every image you see on your social network feed . They are often used out of context or manipulated to spread conspiracy theories or unverified news . Look carefully at the details(people, apparel, buildings, signboards) and try to find the original photo through Google images .
Question 2
Was the coronavirus engineered in the laboratory?
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The right answer is False
There is no scientific evidence to support this thesis. A March 2020 study published in the journal Nature Medicine concluded that the virus “is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.” Research published in February 2020 in the journal Nature claims that Sars-Cov-2 is “96 percent identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.”
What happened: Dozens of websites in Italy and around the world claimed that the new coronavirus was created in a Wuhan laboratory or in a Pentagon military laboratory, without however bringing substantial evidence to support the claim.
Open your eyes: Refer only to well-known research institutes, government experts, or to those quoted by leading scientific journals such as Science, Plos One and Nature.
Question 3
Could vitamin D supplementation prevent coronavirus?
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The right answer is False
There is no scientific evidence to claim that vitamin D supplementation (or other vitamins) can protect against coronavirus.
What happened: A press release published by two University of Turin’s researchers claims that with vitamin D “greater resistance to COVID-19 infection [..] can be considered likely”. The document cites some studies, without however bringing scientific evidence or data related to clinical trials.
Open your eyes: Do not believe all the studies circulating on the net. Scientific studies need in-depth evidence and observations, and data that can be reviewed and evaluated by the scientific community.
Question 4
Which of these statements is correct:
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The right answer is 4
Together with social distancing, shelter at home, and the use of disposable masks and gloves, washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is one of the most effective methods to protect yourself from the virus.
What happened: During a crisis conspiracy theorists spread the most unlikely theses. There are fake remedies based on colloidal silver, bleach, alcohol, and hot drinks. They are all ineffective and often harmful to health.
Open your eyes: Refer only to well-known research institutes, government experts, or to those quoted by leading scientific journals such as Science, Plos One and Nature.
Question 5
Is 5G cell phone technology linked with an increase in COVID-19 cases?
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The right answer is False
There is no scientific evidence to say that the increase in COVID-19 cases can be linked to the 5G network.
What happened: This thesis, circulated on several no-vax conspiracy sites, states that non-ionizing radiation would weaken the immune system. The hypothesis is not supported by scientific data.
Open your eyes: Checking the data cited in the articles circulating on the web is the best way to get some doubts and avoid fake news.
Question 6
How many pandemics have occurred since the early 1900s to today?
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The right answer is 4
Since 1900 there have been six pandemics, meaning epidemics that have spread all over the world. Here is the list: the Spanish flu of 1918 which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths; the Asian flu of 1957, which killed two million people; HIV/AIDS started in 1981 and still ongoing which killed 45 million people; Sars in 2002-2004 which killed nearly 800 people in 29 different countries. The H1N1 of 2009 which caused between 150,000 and 500,000 deaths. The sixth is the current coronavirus pandemic.
Question 7
Does the 1981 Sci-Fi nonfiction by Dean Koontz called the ‘Eyes of Darkness’ predicted the coronavirus pandemic?
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The right answer is False
The book describes a “biological weapon” engineered in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The virus is called Wuhan-400, it has a “100% fatality rate.”
What happened: dozens of websites and social media accounts have amplified this news, claiming that the book also predicted the year, 2020, even if it is not true.
Open your eyes: the world is full of coincidences, but they cannot replace scientific research and fact-checking.
covid-quiz-2.png
Question 8
Garlic can’t treat COVID-19.
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The right answer is True
In addition to the fact that right now there is no cure or medicine that can stop the progression of the disease caused by the coronavirus, all the promises of alternative treatments based on natural products make no sense.
What happened: The news that garlic has curative effects against COVID-19 due to its antimicrobial properties spread in Europe and North Africa. In Tunisia and in some European countries, the price of garlic has increased both due to an increase in demand and to a decrease in the supply of that grown in China.
Open your eyes: during crises there are always solutions that promise miraculous healings with easily available ingredients. Most of the time they are hoaxes.
Question 9
Hold your breath for 10 seconds to understand if the coronavirus is damaging your lungs.
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The right answer is False
There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The only way to understand if the lungs are damaged is to visit a doctor.
What happened: A WhatsApp chain claims that “Japanese doctors” have recommended holding your breath to find out if your lungs have fibrosis. The message also claims to often drink water to "wipe out the virus and send it to your stomach" and not your lungs.
Open your eyes: Do not get your news only on WhatsApp and Facebook, always try to go to the source of the news, refer to well-known newspapers and try to double-check (even triple) the information.
Question 10
Has German patient 4 infected patient 5 by passing him salt?
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The right answer is True
The infection occurred in the canteen of the car parts company Webasto in Stockdorf, a few miles from Munich.
What happened: German health authorities managed to trace the profiles of the first people infected with the coronavirus in Europe. They concluded that the two employees shared the new coronavirus passing the salt shaker.
Open your eyes: far-fetched or weird news is not necessarily false. However, checking the information cited in the articles circulating on the web is the best way to get some doubts and avoid fake news.
Click below to get the quiz result and to get all the latest updates from the Fake News Channel on the main hoaxes spread online.

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