A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

Combination COVID and flu test does not prove they are the same virus

CLAIM: An at-home rapid test that can detect both the coronavirus and influenza A and B is proof that COVID-19 and flu are the same disease.

THE FACTS: The flu and the coronavirus are distinct viruses, and the product in a photo circulating on social media tests separately for each. U.S. COVID-19 cases have again spiked in tandem with influenza. But in recent days, some social media users have pointed to a photo of an at-home test kit that can detect influenza A and B and COVID-19, incorrectly suggesting it shows that the coronavirus pandemic is just another wave of seasonal flu. But the kit in the photo tests for each virus separately, and medical experts confirmed they are distinct viruses that are detected differently. Instructions for the test show it comes with a cartridge that contains two “specimen wells,” one to check for COVID-19 and the other to check for influenza. Users are instructed to swab their nostrils, insert the swab into a test liquid, then put drops of the liquid into each well. Different lines will show up on the test strip in each well depending on what the user tests positive for. The test, sold under the name Fanttest, has been approved by the agency that regulates medical therapies for use in Australia, but it is not available in the U.S. Thomas Denny, a professor of medicine and chief operating officer of Duke University’s Human Vaccine Institute, said rapid antigen tests are developed by using a “recombinant protein” that mimics a specific virus. Before such tests are authorized for use, they are measured for sensitivity and specificity, Denny said. Specificity refers to ensuring the tests provide positive results for the given virus, and not for samples from uninfected people or those infected with a different virus. It’s common for antigen tests to check for multiple things simultaneously, said Dr. Benjamin Neuman, chief virologist at Texas A&M’s Global Health Research Complex. The proteins usually targeted by COVID-19 and flu tests, respectively, “have nothing in common,” making a two-in-one antigen test possible. In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a triple testing kit for COVID-19, influenza A and B and RSV, but those results must still be processed at a lab. It is possible to be infected with both COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously.

Associated Press writer Graph Massara in San Francisco contributed this report with additional reporting from Angelo Fichera in Philadelphia.

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, agreed, adding that the likelihood of companies passing on higher fuel costs to consumers from the planned emissions regulations isn’t the same as implementing a personal carbon credit system.

— Associated Press writer Phil Marcelo in New York contributed this report.

Hooters says it is not closing for a millennial-friendly rebrand

CLAIM: Hooters is shutting down and rebranding.

THE FACTS: The posts are misrepresenting a 2017 article that discussed some U.S. locations closing between 2012 and 2016, as well as changes the company made to its menu and decor more than a decade ago. A misleading claim spread on social media Wednesday that Hooters, the restaurant famous for its scantily-clad waitresses, is shutting down and rebranding due to changing millennial tastes. But Stephen Brown, a Hooters spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the casual dining chain has no plans to change up its image. “There is no validity to this story,” he wrote in an email, adding, "Our concept is here to stay.” The company also refuted the claim via one of its Twitter accounts. In a follow-up post, the Twitter account that first spread the false claim cited an August 2017 article from Complex, which discussed some locations closing and menu changes in prior years, but did not say the entire chain was closing nor rebranding as the posts suggest. The Complex article discussed a report that there had been a 7 percent drop in Hooters locations from 2012 to 2016. It also noted that the chain updated its menus and decor in 2012 “in an attempt to attract younger patrons and female customers,” and earlier that year had opened a new chain called Hoots, which features Hooters’ popular chicken wings without waitresses in tight tops. The article simultaneously discussed a then-new study from Pornhub that found its millennial users were less likely to search for breast-related terms. But while the article tied the two things together, the study had nothing to do with the restaurant, nor the changes that had been made before its release.