evidence: In response to the spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, many social media posts bear warnings about the virus from unnamed friends and family members working in health fields. One such claim on Facebook, shared more than 16 million times since it was first posted 16 March 2020, states that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, "is spreading quickly from gas pumps [and] shopping carts as well." The claim is partially correct, in that early studies show that SARS-CoV-2 could potentially be spread through contact with contaminated objects[1]. However, there is not yet any direct evidence that this has occurred and the number of people who might contract the virus this way is unknown. [...] The claim that SARS CoV-2 "is spreading quickly from gas pumps [and] shopping carts as well" is of "Neutral" credibility. One of the characteristics that makes SARS CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, so problematic is its environmental stability, especially on stainless steel and plastics[4]. That means that the virus can potentially be transmitted between people by means of contaminated objects (fomites). The more people touch a particular object the higher the chance that one of those people carried viable SARS CoV-2 on their hands, thus creating a fomite. Clearly, both gas pump handles and grocery carts are frequently touched by many different people, making both suitable fomites that could aid the spread of COVID-19. The following things need to be considered, though: