The "coronavirus is fake" people have a new talking point:

> Death rates haven't risen.

The problem with that is that it will be late next year before the 2020 numbers are finished. So what they're going by are estimates, often not even official ones, that will change as data comes in from all over the nation.

No, the #SARS-CoV-2 #coronavirus is real, and the disease it causes ( #COVID-19 or #2019-nCoV ) is real. There are some current restrictions that have not been shown to work, but some things do work:

* physical distancing -- 2 meters or 6 feet appears to be far enough apart that most larger virus-laden droplets fall to the ground
* face masks -- They reduce the amount of virus an infected person releases, but they also reduce the amount that one ingests. It does not have to be perfect. (Which was an issue early on, because official advice was to not wear masks. But by March, evidence was already coming in that masks help slow the spread.)
* hand-washing -- For years, we've heard that a common vector for colds and influenza is hands touching surfaces with viruses on them, then touching one's eyes or nose.

There are some others, but these three are well documented by now.