Is the Lovers & Friends Festival real? Are the CDC and FDA going to remove the PCR test for it’s inaccuracy? Does Twitter have a “dislike” button? Starbucks order delivered by a drone?  In this post, we will share 4 ongoing and widespread rumors. They may sound wild, ridiculous, or too creative to believe. Can you tell which are true and which are false?

Is the Lovers & Friends Festival real?

Yes! (Reported by Snopes)

Have you seen this flyer about the Lovers & Friends Festival? Many people are wondering if it is real. Good news: yes, it is true. Bad news: all tickets are sold out!

The Lovers & Friends Festival, an R&B and Hip-Hop music event featuring many famous singers, were originally scheduled for May 2020. Due to the pandemic, the show was cancelled, and all tickets were refunded last year.

Yet recently it is confirmed that the show is back- scheduled for May 14-15 2022 in Las Vegas. Some artists who will perform in the show also retweeted the flyer:

So far all tickets are sold out, but you can still sign up for the waitlist on the festival’s official website. Good luck!

The Lovers & Friends Festival is true. You can enjoy the show next year (as long as you manage to buy the tickets!)

Are the CDC and FDA going to remove the PCR test for its inaccuracy?

False! (Rated by FactCheck.org)

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have been used to diagonise COVID-19 ever since the pandemic hit. However, some people misunderstand an announcement from CDC and falsely claim the the CDC is removing the PCR test for its inaccuracy. Posts that read “After 180 million positive cases, the CDC have announced their withdrawal statement from using the PCR test to detect COVID, due to its lack of detection to differentiate between COVID and influenza” are seen on social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook:

In a laboratory alert on July 22nd, the CDC announced that it will withdraw the request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the the CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel.

The agency further “encourages laboratories to consider adoption of a multiplexed method that can facilitate detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses.” Does that mean the PCR test was unable to differentiate between COVID-19 and other viruses?

The answer is NO. The CDC did NOT say the PCR test is inaccurate or unreliable. The PCR test is still an accurate way to diagnose COVID-19.

Yet the reason why the CDC “recommends clinical laboratories and testing sites that have been using the CDC 2019-nCoV RT-PCR assay select and begin their transition to another FDA-authorized COVID-19 test” and “encourages laboratories to consider adoption of a multiplexed method that can facilitate detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses” (mentioned in the alert) is that a multiplex assay can test for for both influenza and SARS-CoV-2, which saves time and resources as the influenza season approaches.

In short, the statement that PCR tests will be removed because they are inaccurate is FALSE. PCR tests are still in use, but switching to a multiplex assay can make it more efficient and takes less time to diagnose COVID-19 along with other viruses. For more information about the diagnostic tests for COVID-19, please visit the CDC website.

Find it hard to decide if a statement is truth or misinformation? Use Trend Micro ScamCheck to search for the information you need to decide if the news is true:

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Is it true that Twitter has a “dislike” button?

Yes, it is TRUE. (Rated by Snopes) Did you see it on your Twitter?
Some people have found there is a “dislike” button on their Twitter, and those who don’t are inquiring about when they can have one and if the dislike feature is true. Here is the answer…YES!

Twitter has officially   announced that some iOS users will see the upvote and downvote options as a trial feature and that users’ downvotes will remain private:

So yes, you may start to see “like” and “dislike” buttons on Twitter.

Is the video showing a Starbucks order being delivered by a drone true?

TRUE! (Rated by Snopes) Cheers to technology!
A TikTok video showing a “drone delivery” for Starbucks order went viral, receiving over 208K likes and 31K shares:

The delivery company in the video (printed on the bag) is Flytrex. Flytrex runs drone delivery in North Carolina. According to its official website, Flytrex is “the first drone delivery service focused in the US suburbs.”

Tough it sounds incredible, drone delivery has come to reality now. If you happen to live in the U.S. suburbs, maybe you can try it someday!

Did you successfully identify the truth from the rumors? Pay more attention to what you read and share online! To combat rumors and misinformation, remember, you should always check first before you share.

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