Good health advice is needed now more than ever

FACT CHECK

Generally, there is only one way to wear a protective facemask

Hundreds of people shared a Facebook post claiming that there are different functions for the two sides of a surgical face mask.

According to the post, if a face mask has a coloured side this should be worn facing out to signify the wearer is sick and doesn’t want to spread their illness, whereas if the white side is facing out it means they’re healthy and don’t want to catch anything.

This is wrong.

According to World Health Organisation advice, the different layers of the mask have specific functions and wearing the mask the wrong way could impede these.

The WHO advises that, if you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if caring for someone with a suspected infection.

FACT CHECK

No, Iceland has not just declared that all religions are mental disorders

We spotted an article which claimed that Iceland has declared all religions are mental disorders, and that religious faith is “delusional and harmful”.

This is false. The author of the piece on the Patheos website has confirmed it was written as satire, and it is marked as such on the webpage.

But not everyone seems to have realised this, as indicated by comments posted to Facebook, where the article was shared hundreds of times.

Even without knowing that the article was intended as satire, there are other clues that the story is not factual.

It includes a quote from Iceland’s Prime Minister Andrew Kanard. Since November 2017, the Prime Minister of Iceland has been Katrín Jakobsdóttir. There has never been any Icelandic Prime Minister by the name Andrew Kanard.

FACT CHECK

You can keep freedom of movement after leaving the EU – as long as you’re in the single market

Asked on Sky News if a future Labour government would reintroduce the free movement of people between the UK and the EU, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said: “Once we come out of the single market, freedom of movement falls.”

Presenter Kay Burley responded by saying, “Norway’s not in the single market and yet they have free movement.”

But Ms Abbott was correct on her point. Ms Burley was incorrect to say that Norway is not in the single market. It is their place in the single market that means Norway follows freedom of movement rules – even though they are outside of the EU.

FACT CHECK

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