Facts Matter: Postelection isn't only 'stress awareness' day

As the Nov. 3 Election Day wrapped up, internet users were told the following day was devoted to stress awareness.

"Hilariously, November 4 is National Stress Awareness Day," a Twitter user wrote. Newsweek magazine published a story titled, "It's National Stress Awareness Day - as if You Weren't, You Know, Aware."

It turns out Nov. 4 isn't the only date devoted to stress, according to Snopes.com.

The International Stress Management Association, a nonprofit company registered in England, since 1998 has recognized the first Wednesday in November as Stress Awareness Day, part of its annual International Stress Awareness Week, this year running Nov. 2-6. According to its website, this year the group was "inundated with tweets" about the day as "the USA chimed in with enthusiasm."

But since 1992, The Health Resource Network, a Maryland-based nonprofit, has designated each April as Stress Awareness Month and April 16, the day after income taxes are due, as Stress Awareness Day. This is the date listed in some health and lifestyle blogs and online calendars, Snopes said.

The website DaysoftheYear.com lists Nov. 4 as Stress Awareness Day, in addition to Use Your Common Sense Day and Wobbly Wednesday

Wall around White House faked

A photo circulating on Election Day, showing a massive concrete barrier around the White House, has been doctored, according to PolitiFact.com.

A post of the fake photo by one Facebook user, who called it "truly a sad spectacle," was shared nearly 900 times.

A temporary, anti-scale fence actually was erected at the White House before Election Day, but it doesn't resemble the wall in the manipulated photo, PolitiFact said.

The original aerial image, without the concrete wall, is a Getty Images photo taken in 2009. Evidence the doctored photo isn't genuine includes shadows from the trees in front of the White House appearing to stick out from under the wall, PolitiFact said.

Facebook flagged the post as false news and misinformation.

Global flu cases down, but not by 98%

Social media reports stating flu cases are down 98% are inaccurate and premature, according to The Associated Press.

The number of influenza cases in Southern Hemisphere countries, where flu season generally runs from April to September, has decreased this year. But flu season has just begun in the Northern Hemisphere.

Some online posts claiming worldwide cases are down 98% cite the World Health Organization. But the organization didn't say that. WHO data shows the number of flu cases from Sept. 29 to Oct. 11 have been fewer than expected.

"Although the Southern Hemisphere seems to have been largely spared, we are still very concerned about the Northern Hemisphere influenza season just starting," WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris told the AP.

Southern Hemisphere countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, have had fewer influenza cases due to mask wearing and social distancing measures in place to combat COVID-19.

"In the areas where people properly wear a proper mask, we will see very low rates of COVID-19 and influenza," Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert Dr. Gregory Poland told the AP. "In the areas where people are not compliant with mask wearing and distancing guidelines, we will see both diseases with COVID-19 more prominent because of its inherent greater infectiousness."

Whale didn't eat kayaker

A video making the rounds on social media falsely claims a humpback whale ingested a woman in a kayak.

The caption, "Yo a whale really ate this lady," was attached to the clip, which racked up more than 1 million views.

The video is real, but the kayaker came out of the incident unharmed, according to Snopes.com.

KSBY reporter Melissa Newman said the woman was "lucky to be alive." The kayaker, who encountered the whale off the shore of Avila Beach in California, "says she is OK after a whale capsized her kayak," Newman reported.

The video was taken by a witness as kayakers Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel moved in to get a closer look at the humpback whales, according to CNN.

"I saw the whale come up. I thought, 'Oh, no! It's too close,'" McSorley told CNN affiliate KMPH. "All of a sudden, I lifted up, and I was in the water."

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.