VERIFY: Cornell professor says COVID-19 is real, Facebook post is fake

A social media post attributed to Rob Oswald, “a PhD in virology and immunology,” claims that positive COVID-19 samples sent to university labs found no SARS-CoV-2, but flu instead. It says that there is no such thing as COVID-19. THE QUESTION Did a clinical research scientist named Rob Oswald determine that COVID-19 cases are really bouts of the flu? THE ANSWER No. Dr. Robert Oswald, a Cornell University professor whose picture is sometimes included with the meme from the post, says on his faculty page that “COVID-19 is real. Any Facebook post that suggests otherwise is a hoax and is not true.”