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The Novel Coronavirus has been surrounded by panic and misinformation since its discovery in December 2019. The most recent false claim is that cocaine is the cure. Images of breaking news stories claiming that cocaine is the newest remedy to coronavirus are being reposted on Twitter and Facebook. One Facebook post from Jan. 30 included an image of a bag of cocaine in the background of a news banner that says Cocaine kills corona virus and Scientists is shocked to discover that this drug can fight the virus. No, this grammatically challenged image was not from a real breaking news alert. This image is made by an online news generator. There is still no cure for the coronavirus. This post was flagged by Facebook as part of efforts to combat false news and information on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) The breaking news format of this social media claim came from a website that allows you to create your own breaking news stories by uploading your own image and headline into a generator. The waterstamp breakyourownnews.com in the top right corner is blurred out in the Facebook post. In the original image of the bag of cocaine, which can be found on multiple stock image sites , there was no blurry white spot in the corner. This breaking news image is fabricated. If there were a cure for the Novel Coronavirus, we wouldn’t count on it being a stimulant like cocaine. Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that can lead to long-term respiratory problems and movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease, according to the National Institutes of Health . In 2017 there were a total of 13,942 drug overdose deaths in the United States that involved cocaine. There have been 1,016 deaths reported worldwide from the coronavirus as of Feb. 10, none in the United States . We wouldn’t recommend trying a highly addictive drug in hopes of fighting off a viral disease. We rate this Pants on Fire!
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