Sudipta Sengupta

The pandemic has given rise to a popular keyword called 'immunity booster'. From alternative medicine brands to FMCG companies have started attaching the term to their product. We do a consolidated fact check on all these advertisement and product claims by fact checking the keyword 'immunity booster'. Our investigation reveals that most of these claims are half true.

There is no news about World Steam Week. Steam doesnt kill Coronavirus. There is a STEAM week organized by Steam University which is an educational event and has nothing to do with COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the most circulated Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika published a news on 5th July claiming that researchers of The University of Edinburgh have already discovered that gurgling with salt water can cure you from COVID19. The news report further was supported by a quote from an ENT in Kolkata, Dr. Shantanu Bandopadhyay, who claimed that salt water destroys the outer protein layer of the Novel Coronavirus. We investigated and found the claims to be false.

A series of social media posts have erupted on social media claiming that the World Health Organization has said that Social distancing and masks are not required since Asymptotic corona patients no longer transmit the disease. We investigated and found that all these posts are misinterpreted from a comment made by a WHO official, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, in a press conference in June 8 where she said asymptotic Coronavirus patients do not spread the disease. BUT, on following day, she has clarified her comment saying "it was taken out of context" and emphasized on the need to wear masks. WHO also has not changed their official recommendation related to social distancing norms. Because of that, we term these claims as false.

A Facebook user has published a message claiming that usage of masks is causing fungal lung infections in people. We have fact check on the possibility of the same and found that masks can cause fungal infections only if they are unclean or stored in unhygienic conditions. We find the message as Mostly False.