RUMOR: Pope Francis Tested Positive For Coronavirus?

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads across the world, there were bound to be conspiracy theories and wild rumors unsubstantiated by facts surrounding the global issue.

So, when Pope Francis made the “mistake” of coughing during his Sunday service at the Vatican at the beginning of March 2020, the Globe ran the headline that the pope has tested positive for coronavirus and is now deathly ill. So, is it a fact or just another baseless tabloid story?

As per well-established facts, Pope Francis is not “dying” of the coronavirus and is instead suffering from a normal cold even as the virus is rapidly spreading across Italy. In its latest round of busting fake news, Gossip Cop dissected the Globe’s faulty report to prove that it was nothing but an act to cash-in on the growing trepidation around coronavirus outbreak.

As per the report, a “medical expert” had shared with the tabloid that the 83-year-old is at “great risk” of dying from the coronavirus. “He’s at high risk for having serious complications,” he said, but the fact is that he has never been in the pope’s presence and yet he has been cited as a credible enough source to base a news report on the Pope. As per another “source” mentioned in the report, the Pope is “in terrible danger” and “needs a miracle to survive.”

But what nullifies the entire report is the announcement of a Vatican official who has affirmed in a statement that all the pontiff had was normal cold, not coronavirus. And as per Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office the cold is “running its course, without symptoms ascribable to any other diseases.”

Thus the only facts are that yes, Pope Francis has been showing signs of a cold and even canceled a scheduled weeklong Lenten spiritual retreat in order to recover. But the good news is that he is definitely getting all better now as he has been live-streaming his morning Mass all week and even prayed for all those affected by the pandemic in his sermons even as Italy joins the list of countries observing a lockdown.