NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

In this week's roundup of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week, we focus on false and misleading reports spreading online around the coronavirus outbreak, a situation the World Health Organization has dubbed an “infodemic.”

China attempted to contain COVID-19 that emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 through travel restrictions and city lockdowns, but the virus has now spread to 50 countries and infected more than 82,000 people.

False posts online have distorted symptoms of the virus and peddled miracle cures. Members of the public are urged to follow the advice of established institutions like WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to beware of claims suggesting ways to prevent the virus.

Here are some of the claims spreading online, and the facts you need to know about them.

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CLAIM: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people shave off facial hair to protect against the new coronavirus.

THE FACTS: Reports that the CDC published an infographic recommending that men shave their beards to protect against the coronavirus circulated widely as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased to 60 in the U.S. The CDC did not release this graphic in relation to preventing the new coronavirus, nor did the agency recommend that people shave off their facial hair to protect against it. The graphic dates to 2017 and depicts the types of facial hair that do and do not work well when wearing filtering facepiece respirators. Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC, told the AP in an email that the graphic “was developed several years ago and is intended for professionals who wear respirators for worker protection. CDC does not recommend the routine use of respirators outside of workplace settings (in the community).” In the midst of the new...