Quiz: Do you know your coronavirus fact from fiction?

The spread of coronavirus across the world in 2020 has led to what the World Health Organisation is calling an 'infodemic'. The internet is flooded with stories about the virus, both true and false. While we recommend checking reputable news sources (including The National ), the WHO and your government's advice, why not try out your knowledge with our handy little quiz? For the full stories behind the questions, look out below. This fake news story came from an image being shared on Facebook, claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered 500 lions be released in Russian cities to keep people inside. Designed to look like a breaking news report, the photograph showing a lion in the streets was actually a picture taken on a film set in Johannesburg in 2016. Mr Putin has said Russia has the coronavirus outbreak "under control" and has not issued any widespread lockdown measures. Coronavirus wasn't made in a lab Whenever an epidemic strikes, its only a matter of time before rumours begin circling about its origins. A myth has been persistently shared online that the virus was created in a lab and either purposefully or accidentally released in Wuhan, China. This is not true and scientists have proven it. Researchers compared the genome of the new virus with other coronaviruses like MERS and SARS, publishing their findings in the Nature Medicine journal. "Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus," they wrote. For more on this story, click here Surprisingly, this one is true. President Alberto Fernandez received a message from the mother of a 7-year old boy who had recently lost his first tooth and was worried the tooth fairy would not be able to collect. “We don’t want to cause the tooth fairy problems or for the police to detain him," his mother said in a tweet. Mr Fernandez reassured the boy an hour later that the tooth fairy was indeed on the official list of exceptions. “The tooth fairy can leave rewards for fallen teeth because he is not under quarantine. But the rest of us are ... Joaquin should leave the tooth beneath his pillow and enjoy the prize,” Mr Fernandez wrote on Twitter. To read the full story, click here Social media users reported people coming to their doors with hazmat suits on, purporting to be testing for the coronavirus on behalf of the Red Cross in the US. The NGO was quick to issue a statement warning against the scam. "We would like to emphasise that this rumour is not true," a statement from the Red Cross read. "If someone comes to your house claiming that they work for the Red Cross and that they’re authorised to do coronavirus testing, do not allow them in your home." There is no current evidence that the disease is spread by mosquitos. The World Health Organisation said coronavirus is spread "primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes." Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's palace spokesperson Salvador Panelo claimed with no evidence earlier this month that eating bananas will help kill the coronavirus, citing unnamed articles he “read on the internet.” "I saw on the internet that bananas are a good way to fight [viruses]. So here I am, eating bananas every day,” he continued. Neither the World Health Organisation or the country’s Department of Health have issued official recommendations about eating bananas to combat the coronavirus. For the full story, click here For more on the whacky foods that people claim stops the coronavirus, check out our report from Turkey, here.

Quiz: Do you know your coronavirus fact from fiction?

The internet is alive with rumour, so its important you know the facts