FALSE: Coronavirus sticks faster on men with shaved heads

Claim: The coronavirus sticks faster on men with shaved heads or recently shaved heads.

A screenshot of a supposed report from GMA News’ 24 Oras newscast contained the headline, “Ayon sa DOH, mas mabilis kumapit ang corona virus sa mga lalaking nagpakalbo.” (According to DOH, coronavirus sticks faster on men with shaved heads.)

Facebook’s Claim Check dashboard flagged at least 4 posts sharing this screenshot as early as May 18. One such post has been shared over 16,000 times and received 1,800 likes and 173 comments as of writing. 

Rating: FALSE

The facts: There is no such report from 24 Oras.

GMA News also told Rappler via email that they did not report such news.

Rappler traced the screenshot to a video of a news segment on the March 30, 2020 edition of 24 Oras. The segment carried the headline, “5 rapid COVID-19 test kit, aprubadong gamitin sa mga may malalang sintomas o lugar na maraming may sakit.” (5 rapid COVID-19 test kits approved for use on patients with severe symptoms or in places with many cases)

(Skip to 1:16 of the video for the actual frame used in the claim.)

There are also no official releases from DOH nor news reports citing DOH that contained the claim. – Michael Bueza/Rappler.com

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