Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
Don’t hold your breath. This isn’t a credible way to test for coronavirus
If Your Time is short
Holding your breath for 10 seconds isn’t a way to test that you don’t have COVID-19.
Coronavirus test kits may be in short supply, but advice being shared on social media — including by actress Debra Messing — wrongly claims we can check ourselves for COVID-19.
"How can one know if a person is infected?" an image with the advice asks. "By the time he has a fever and/or a cough and goes to the lung hospital, the patient may have 50% fibrosis, and then it’s too late! Taiwanese experts provide simple self-monitoring that we can do every morning: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you can do this successfully without coughing and without difficulty, without anxiety or chest tightness, it shows that you do not have fibrosis and generally indicate no infection."
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
"This has been circulating widely, but sadly is not true," Richard Watanabe, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, told PolitiFact in an email. "The only way to test for COVID-19 right now is via laboratory testing."
Featured Fact-check
Loren Rauch, an ER doctor in Los Angeles, told Mother Jones that a breath test can check "if you are anxious or have respiratory compromise," but not COVID-19.
Sign up for PolitiFact texts
Robert Legar Atmar, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine, told the Associated Press that such a breath test could be helpful in identifying whether someone has a "more serious lung disease." But, he said, it won’t identify people who are infected and have mild to no symptoms.
We rate this Facebook post False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, March 10, 2020
The New York Times, With test kits in short supply, health officials sound alarms, March 6, 2020
Mother Jones, There’s a Facebook coronavirus post going viral claiming to be from Stanford. Don’t believe it, March 11, 2020
The Associated Press, Ability to hold your breath for 10 seconds it not a test for the coronavirus, March 12, 2020
Interview with Richard Watanabe, professor, preventive medicine, University of Southern California, March 13, 2020
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Ciara O'Rourke
Don’t hold your breath. This isn’t a credible way to test for coronavirus
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.