He’s at it again
A Donald Trump video claiming children are immune to COVID-19 has been removed by social media giants Facebook.
President Trump, in an interview with Fox News, said children are “almost immune” to the Coronavirus. He then later repeated this statement at a press conference. A cutdown of the Fox News interview containing this comment was then published on Trump’s social media channels.
Late on Wednesday, Facebook made the decision to remove the video, the very first time they have done so with any of Trump’s content regarding COVID-19.
Facebook and Twitter removed posts by Trump and his campaign that contained a video clip in which the U.S. president claimed that children are ‘almost immune’ to the coronavirus https://t.co/WeuLcepKZA pic.twitter.com/Q5vJ5Mns6A
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 6, 2020
In a statement, a spokesperson for Facebook said: “This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from Covid-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful Covid misinformation.”
The Trump video was also removed from Twitter for similar reasons.
Trump spokesperson Courtney Parella criticised the move, claiming the President was “stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus.”
It doesn’t take a bacterial immunologist to work out that “less susceptible” and “immune” are slightly different concepts. “Less susceptible” means you’re less likely to contract a condition, but it could still occur.
According to Harvard Medical School, it is possible for children to contract COVID-19. It’s just less likely than in older adults.
“Children, including very young children, can develop COVID-19,” say Harvard researchers.
“Many of them have no symptoms. Those that do get sick tend to experience milder symptoms such as low-grade fever, fatigue, and cough. Some children have had severe complications, but this has been less common. Children with underlying health conditions may be at increased risk for severe illness.”
Even if children do not show signs of sickness, they may still carry the virus. Asymptomatic carriers pose a serious risk to those with pre-existing health conditions.
This isn’t the first COVID-19 gaffe that President Trump has made. Remember the time he advocated for the use of disinfectant in treating the virus?
Trump's coronavirus disinfectant comments are 'dangerous', doctors say, after the U.S. president said during a White House briefing that scientists should try to apply their findings to coronavirus patients by inserting ultraviolet light or disinfectant https://t.co/2zD9RYlN89 pic.twitter.com/tdmEHQ5Vd9
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 24, 2020
“I see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that? By injection inside, or almost… a cleaning?
“Because you see, it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. It’d be interesting to check that. You’re going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds interesting to me.”
