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Opinion | Covid-19 infodemic: To stem the tide of panic, we need to understand people’s fears, not condemn them
- Epidemics confront us with existential life-and-death questions that invoke strong emotions. Medical science and public health practitioners should address feelings as a key part of communication and preparedness, rather than dismiss them
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As the likelihood of a Covid-19 pandemic increases, there are signs of growing frustration among public health scientists, medical practitioners and health agencies. Weeks into the outbreak, there is still so much that is uncertain about the pathogen and its epidemiology.
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And while time may be running out on the biomedical front, the health community has been battling to put out another fire. As Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, declared at the Munich security conference on February 15, “we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.”
Since then, misinformation about the virus has intensified, churned out of social media sites like there is no tomorrow. Conspiracy theories abound, notably the claim, promoted by, among others, Republican Senator Tom Cotton, that Sars-CoV-2 is not natural, that it is a laboratory concoction, part of a nebulous plan.
Last week, a group of scientists issued a joint statement, declaring: “The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins.”
Meanwhile, the WHO has been forced to dismiss a story that the disease could be caught from an infectious cloud – a fantastic proposition strikingly reminiscent of early 19th century belief in the contagious properties of a cholera cloud.
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