FactCheck.org's Weekly Update

In a little more than a month, President Donald Trump’s language about the coronavirus has shifted, from talk of 15 cases that “within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero” to warning of as many as 2.2 million deaths in the country if no social distancing efforts were undertaken. 

More than once, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the federal stockpile of emergency medicine and supplies he inherited from his predecessor was an “empty shelf.”

Leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden repeatedly has criticized President Donald Trump for failing to make timely use of the Defense Production Act to compel companies to manufacture medical supplies that are expected to be needed to treat those infected with the novel coronavirus. There’s a bit of spin coming from both sides on this issue.

Former Vice President Joe Biden was wrong when he said that the Trump administration made no effort to get U.S. medical experts into China as the novel coronavirus epidemic spread there early this year.

In this video, we look at two misleading attacks President Donald Trump has lodged against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose state has been dealing with an explosion of COVID-19 infections.

While his administration has faced criticism for being slow to ramp up testing for coronavirus infections, President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the problem was with his predecessors, saying the administration “inherited a broken system” that it “rebuilt.” That’s misleading.

In his March 30 appearance on “Fox & Friends,” President Donald Trump suggested an estimate that the novel coronavirus might kill a huge number of Americans was a new revelation.

President Donald Trump continued his misleading attacks on Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as it ravages the state.

A viral Facebook post about COVID-19 falsely claims that in New York “every contaminated corpse belongs to the state” and will be incinerated without any “wakes or memorial services to pay your last respects.” The state is allowing funeral services with limited visitors; cremation is not mandated.

A viral video makes the bogus claim that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Jan. 31 tweet criticized the Trump administration’s restriction on travelers from China to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Her tweet was unrelated to those travel restrictions.

A false claim that students in Missouri will have to repeat the school year was pushed online through a viral letter with a state logo as part of an April Fool’s hoax. State officials have publicly debunked the claim.

A post circulating on social media falsely claims that a blend of sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice tea will “eliminate” the novel coronavirus. The post also claims this “cure” has prevented any COVID-19 deaths in Israel — but more than 30 people have died of the disease there.

April Fool’s Day brought a spate of false posts claiming students will have to repeat the school year. While many schools across the U.S. closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no indication they’ll call for repeating the school year.

A viral post on Facebook claims without substantiation that the “media” is running a photo of coffins from a 2017 movie with news stories about the novel coronavirus pandemic in Italy. The picture is actually from 2013; it did appear in the 2017 movie, too, but there’s no evidence it’s being used by credible news organizations now.

A meme falsely claims that a health care workers’ union was “caught hiding 39 million N95 masks,” and other posts cast suspicion on the union’s motives. In reality, the union had called medical suppliers nationwide in an effort to find masks — and it never had or hid them.

Facebook posts falsely claim that it “took [President Barack] Obama ‘millions infected and over 1,000 deaths’ to declare the H1N1 flu a health emergency,” but President Donald Trump “declared a health emergency” before the first coronavirus death. In reality, both administrations declared public health emergencies before the first reported deaths.

Q: Does ibuprofen make COVID-19 worse?

A: There is no evidence that ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can make COVID-19 cases more severe. You should consult your doctor before changing medications.