Social media users have been sharing posts online with what they claim is a bullet-point list compiled by Johns Hopkins University to summarize best practices for avoiding the coronavirus. The post makes various claims about viruses and how to protect yourself from them ( Here ). Another version says that the summary was given by Dr. Irene Ken or her daughter, described as an assistant professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University. Examples can be seen Here AndHere .

Some posts advise people to eat more foods that are “above the viral pH level” ( Here ). They refer to academic articles that can be found ( Here ). Although this article refers to the coronavirus, it was published in April 1991. The novel coronavirus was discovered in December 2019 and has never been seen in humans before ( Here ).

On April 3, 2020, Johns Hopkins University news center “The Hub” ran an article about this online misinformation. It confirms that the “message” or “summary” is not from the university and advises readers to use caution when evaluating information online ( Here ).

The article quotes a statement from Johns Hopkins Medicine: “Rumors and misinformation like this can easily circulate in society during a crisis. The rumors we’ve seen in larger volumes are those citing a Johns Hopkins immunologist and infectious disease expert. We don’t know the origin of these rumors and they have no credibility.”

The university also tweeted about the fake summary and suggested getting credible information from its website ( Here ).

Bonafide information from the university is available coronavirus.jhu.edu And Here .

The post showing a summary of these points is wrong. This “guide” was not produced by Johns Hopkins University or a physician. It does not provide accurate information about the novel coronavirus.

THE CHARGE

False: Johns Hopkins University is not sharing this bullet point message about the coronavirus

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.