Did Chinese Doctors Confirm African People Are Genetically Resistant to Coronavirus?







Misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak seems to have traveled farther than the virus itself.







































							False
['Chinese doctors confirmed that African people are "genetically resistant" to new coronavirus.', 'In early 2020, an outbreak of new coronavirus in Wuhan, China, sparked fears that the virus could cause a pandemic. It also inspired a significant amount of misinformation.', 'For example, on Feb. 17, 2020, the website Cityscrollz.com falsely reported that a Cameroonian college student studying in China contracted coronavirus but recovered “because of his blood genetic composition which is mainly found in the genetic composition of subsaharan Africans.”', 'If such a claim, that people from African backgrounds are more resistant to coronavirus than others, were true, one would expect it to be a major news story. Instead, it’s being reported exclusively in viral social media posts and junk sites. That’s because it’s not true.', 'According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anyone who comes into close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus is at risk for contracting it.', 'That said, it is true that Kem Senou Pavel Daryl, a 21-year-old Cameroon national studying in China, became ill after contracting coronavirus and was hospitalized. His recovery was not the result of a superior immune system possessed by people hailing from African countries but, according to news reports, rounds of antibiotics and other drugs.', 'As BBC News reported, Senou recovered after being placed in isolation for 13 days. “The CT scan showed no trace of the illness. He became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover. His medical care was covered by the Chinese state.”', 'As of this writing, the coronavirus outbreak has killed 1,770 people in mainland China. Millions of people are currently quarantined in and around Wuhan in an effort to contain the virus. So far, more than 71,000 people have been sickened worldwide. In mid-February, Egypt announced it had the first-reported case in Africa.', 'Vincent, Danny. \xa0 “Coronavirus: A Cameroon Student on How He Recovered.”\n\xa0 \xa0 BBC News. \xa0 17 February 2020.', 'Le Cadre, Anne-Sophie Faivre. \xa0 “Black People Aren’t More Resistant to Novel Coronavirus.”\n\xa0 \xa0 Agence France Presse. \xa0 12 February 2020.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', 'A complete story is rarely told in a headline.', 'Social media rumors that two memorials in New York were vandalized proved misleading.', 'In August 2019, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man died after an encounter with police officers in Aurora, Colorado.', 'A chaotic scene in St. Louis sparked outrage, memes, and confusion.', 'Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on sex abuse charges connected to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.', 'The white supremacist group made frequent use of the slogan more recently embraced by President Donald Trump, though they did not, as some claim, invent it.', "The question of past arrests often surfaces among people who want to rationalize police officers' actions when Black men are killed in custody.", 'You can claim anything if you remove the barrier of evidence.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', '© 1995 - 2020 by Snopes Media Group Inc.', 'This material may not be reproduced without permission.', 'Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com']
Did Chinese Doctors Confirm African People Are Genetically Resistant to Coronavirus?