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** No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, the big question has been: How did SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, come to be?

A definitive answer remains elusive, but many scientists think the evidence points to a natural spillover as the most likely cause.

For more than two years, a rumor that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology might have fallen ill with a COVID-like disease in the fall of 2019 has underpinned competing claims supporting a lab leak theory.

The “sick” lab workers rumor gained fresh legs recently on social media, fueled by a June 10 story in the Times of London that mentioned sick workers while promoting the baseless claim that the coronavirus is the result of bioweapons research.

Then, three days later, a Substack post, citing anonymous government sources, claimed to know with “100%” certainty the identity of three “patients zero” who manipulated viruses in the lab.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham called the Times story a “bombshell.” Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky called the supposed findings of the Substack post a “big deal.”

But, as Science Editor Jessica McDonald writes, the U.S. Intelligence Community – in a much anticipated, congressionally mandated report released on June 23 -- did not substantiate any of the details about sick workers.

“While several WIV researchers fell mildly ill in Fall 2019,” the report reads, “they experienced a range of symptoms consistent with colds or allergies with accompanying symptoms typically not associated with COVID-19, and some of them were confirmed to have been sick with other illnesses unrelated to COVID-19.”

The 10-page report, which does not name any individuals, says the IC “continues to assess that this information neither supports nor refutes either hypothesis of the pandemic’s origins because the researchers’ symptoms could have been caused by a number of diseases and some of the symptoms were not consistent with COVID-19.”

For more, read Jessie’s article “No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins, U.S. Intelligence Rebuts Claims About ‘Sick’ Lab Workers ([link removed]) .”
HOW WE KNOW
Seeing is believing, but we often have to view short video clips in full context when fact-checking. That's what FactCheck.org fellow Blossom Izevbigie did this week when fact-checking ([link removed]) social media claims, based on a Republican group's edited video clip, that President Biden had admitted selling "a lot of state secrets." The unedited video posted on the official White House YouTube Channel showed that Biden said seconds later that he was "kidding."
FEATURED FACT
Breast cancer in U.S. women under 50 increased gradually from the mid-1990s through 2019. The incidence rate increased from 42.3 per 100,000 people in 1994 to 49.7 per 100,000 in 2019, according to the National Cancer Institute. Breast cancer incidence fell for those women to 46.8 per 100,000, but that was likely because disruptions to health care appointments during the pandemic led to missed diagnoses. Read more ([link removed]) .
WORTHY OF NOTE
Our parent organization, the Annenberg Public Policy Center, recently released the results of a survey ([link removed]) on public attitudes and knowledge of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus.

Even though nearly all children get sick from RSV by the age of 2, only 22% of people in the Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge survey said they know children who have had RSV.

Those surveyed were also largely unfamiliar with RSV's common symptoms. Infants and certain older adults are at higher risk of developing a severe infection from RSV, but it causes a mild cold in most people. Yet, only 18% correctly said RSV usually produces mild symptoms.

The Food and Drug Administration last month approved GSK’s vaccine, Arexvy, and Pfizer’s vaccine, Abrysvo, for adults age 60 and older, and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 29 endorsed an advisory committee's recommendation that those adults “may” receive either RSV vaccine after consulting with their health care providers. This summer, the FDA will decide whether to approve a maternal RSV vaccine for pregnant people that is designed to protect infants.

The ASAPH Survey found that 63% of those surveyed would recommend a vaccine against RSV to an older family member or friend, but only 49% would do the same for a pregnant friend or family member.

For more, see our Q&As on the vaccines that have been approved or are being considered for older adults ([link removed]) and pregnant people ([link removed]) .
REPLY ALL

Reader: I am doing a fact check, and my question is "Does China own 300,000 acres of land in the US?"

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: The U.S. Department of Agriculture issues a report annually on foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land. In its most recent report ([link removed]) , the USDA said that Chinese investors -- in part or in whole -- held 383,935 acres, or 0.9%, of all U.S. foreign-held agricultural land through Dec. 31, 2021.

The report says:

Canadian investors own the largest amount of reported foreign-held agricultural and non-agricultural land, with 31 percent, or 12.8 million acres (report 1B). Foreign persons from an additional four countries, the Netherlands with 12 percent, Italy with 7 percent, the United Kingdom with 6 percent, and Germany with 6 percent, collectively held 12.4 million acres or 31 percent of the foreign-held acres in the United States. The remaining 15.6 million acres, or 38 percent of all reported foreign-held agricultural and non-agricultural acres, are held by various other countries. For example, China held 383,935 acres (total acres for “US/China” and “China” in report 6), which is slightly less than 1 percent of foreign-held acres.

As explained in Report 6 of that report, "US/China" refers to land held by U.S. corporations with Chinese national shareholders, while "China" represents land owned only by Chinese investors or entities. As of the end of 2021, U.S./China held 189,163 acres, and China owned 194,772 acres for a total of 383,935 acres.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service issued a report ([link removed]) in January on foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land that addressed congressional proposals to restrict foreign investment in the U.S. food and agriculture sector. That report said a Chinese food manufacturer, the Fufeng Group, "bought 300 acres of land near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota with plans to build a wet corn milling and biofermentation plant." That project ([link removed]) has been controversial given its proximity to a U.S. Air Force base. Days after the CRS report was issued, the Grand Forks City Council rejected ([link removed]) the company's development plan.


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Posts Misrepresent Pentagon Accounting Errors in Ukraine Aid ([link removed]) ": The Pentagon discovered accounting errors that overestimated how much it had spent on aid for Ukraine by $6.2 billion over two years. But social media posts misinterpreted the discovery to falsely claim the U.S. “lost” $6.2 billion or laundered money through Ukraine. The $6.2 billion will be added to future aid packages for Ukraine.
* "TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates ([link removed]) ": Breast cancer in younger women has been increasing gradually in recent decades. But a social media post misrepresents case number projections for 2022 and 2023 to falsely claim they show a dramatic rise in early-onset breast cancer — and then baselessly ties its faulty comparisons to COVID-19 vaccines.
* "Misleading Online Posts Distort Biden’s Joke at Meeting with Indian Prime Minister ([link removed]) :" In a meeting with the Indian prime minister and CEOs of technology companies, President Joe Biden joked about Republican investigations into him and his family. “I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things,” he joked, and added, “Now, all kidding aside.” But a viral video has been misleadingly edited to omit Biden saying that he was joking.
* "Viral Posts Distort Greta Thunberg Tweet Warning About Climate Change ([link removed]) ": A Harvard University professor warned in 2018 that steps were needed over the next five years to reduce carbon pollution to preserve Arctic ice. Climate activist Greta Thunberg then shared a tweet that misquoted the professor. But recent social media posts have distorted Thunberg’s tweet to falsely claim she predicted human extinction by 2023.
* "Sam Bankman-Fried Awaiting Trial, Contrary to Online Claims ([link removed]) ": FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in 2022 for allegedly defrauding customers by stealing billions of dollars for personal use, including nearly $38 million in political donations to Democrats. Online posts falsely claim the Biden administration has dropped all charges against Bankman-Fried. But he is under house arrest and awaiting trial.

Y lo que publicamos en español ([link removed]) (English versions are accessible in each story):
* "Estudio de Cleveland Clinic no demuestra que las vacunas aumentan el riesgo de contraer COVID-19 ([link removed]) ": Varios estudios han demostrado que una dosis extra de la vacuna contra el COVID-19 generalmente se asocia con una mayor protección contra el coronavirus. Sin embargo, muchas personas en las redes sociales han compartido un hallazgo preliminar de un estudio de Cleveland Clinic y lo han tergiversado como prueba de que recibir más dosis aumenta el riesgo de infección de una persona.
* "Preguntas y respuestas sobre la viruela símica ([link removed]) ": El verano pasado se produjo el mayor brote jamás registrado de viruela símica, la enfermedad antes conocida como viruela del mono. Aquí, brindamos una actualización sobre la enfermedad, que podría regresar este verano, según funcionarios de salud.
* "Publicaciones difunden falsedad sobre las causas de la disforia de género ([link removed]) ": Investigaciones recientes sugieren que la disforia de género probablemente sea causada por una combinación de factores, incluyendo la exposición a hormonas antes de nacer. Pero publicaciones en las redes sociales difunden la falacia de que podría deberse a vacunas que contienen ADN de un feto abortado del sexo opuesto. No hay pruebas científicas que sustenten esa afirmación, dicen los expertos.

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