Twitter Removes Claim About CDC And Coronavirus Deaths That Trump Retweeted

After Trump retweeted a claim, discounted about the coronavirus death toll in the United States over the weekend, Twitter took this post that spread false information. Keep in consideration that this tweet was originally posted by “Mel Q,” a follower of the baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, posits. Trump president is battling a cabal of Satan-worshiping child sex traffickers. However, it was copied from a Facebook post as well as claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had “quietly updated the number to admit that only 6%” of reported deaths and about 9,000 died from Covid.

Moreover, the rest were people are with 2-3 other serious illnesses, said in the tweet, that has been replaced a message saying that it is no longer available because it violated the Twitter Rules. Along with this, a Twitter spokesperson also said the tweet violated the company’s coronavirus misinformation policy.

Moreover, another from Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign, promoted the same false claim about the CDC’s statistics as well as it was retweeted by Mr. Trump’s remains on the site.  However, the information removed by Twitter appears in order to stem from provisional death counts for the coronavirus and it was listed underlying health conditions among those killed by the virus. The reason is according to the CDC, for 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. However, for deaths with conditions as well as causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death record is present.

Twitter removed a claim about the CDC and Covid-19 coronavirus deaths that Trump retweeted https://t.co/6CZXCCh2uK pic.twitter.com/Pja8r6WOt2

— Forbes (@Forbes) August 31, 2020

Health departments tried Monday in order to clarify the facts after President Donald Trump retweeted a QAnon conspiracy theorist that falsely claimed only 6 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the United States are actually because of COVID-19. This has since been deleted by Twitter for spreading misinformation, claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that its data to show that only 6 percent who were counted as COVID-19 deaths died from COVID.” (Chisenhall, 8/31) 

However, the claim appears to be a reference to the CDC’s Wednesday update to the death data and resources page that noted that in 6 percent of reported deaths, COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was the only cause mentioned.

However, it does not mean only 6 percent of reported deaths are attributed to this virus because it means that 94 percent of people had at least one additional factor contributing to the deaths. Furthermore, the information is ha no secret addendum as well as it has been on the CDC site. 

The president also retweeted an article by far-right Gateway Pundit that remains on his page by containing the “Mel Q” tweet by using the six percent figure for attack members of Trump’s coronavirus task force.

The CDC update provides a compilation of data on comorbidities by indicating that what other conditions are present in people who die of the coronavirus as well as helping reveal who might be most at risk. However, it isn’t a departure from what the health agency or public health experts. The CDC also has said for months that people underlying health issues are at greater risk of developing serious symptoms from this virus.

Although the number of #COVID19 cases in most states continued to decline over the last 7 days, COVID-19 is widespread in many areas, especially the South & West. As of Aug. 25, the US reported nearly 1,000 deaths a day over the last week. See more data: https://t.co/441ntP6EUZ. pic.twitter.com/HvW3SFqa11

— CDC (@CDCgov) August 26, 2020

However, conspiracy theories as well as misinformation have been a persistent problem amid the coronavirus pandemic by causing alarm among public health experts. Safdar also noted that once a false claim that gets out there and it goes on like wildfire. It seems that almost anything can be twisted to fit a particular message that an individual wants to deliver.