There’s another virus out there in the United States that is spreading like wildfire and it could be far more deadly than COVID-19. The name? Misinformation.
On February 29th the first United States citizen passed away from COVID-19 complications. Six weeks later, as of this writing, we stand at over 32,000 American people who have lost their lives to this virus (Update 06/12/20: We are now at nearly 125,000 United States deaths from COVID-19). This novel coronavirus is nasty. You can get infected and not show symptoms for two weeks, unknowingly infecting whoever you come into contact with. Even something as simple as touching a surface can infect another person. It’s much more contagious then most other viruses or diseases that we are used to dealing with. Worse, we have no cure. We have no treatment. We have no vaccine.
This coronavirus is not solely infecting the elderly, as we once thought. Nearly 1,000 people under the age of 50 have passed away from COVID-19. Even in relatively healthy people, a number of those people will still be hospitalized and potentially need oxygen or a ventilator to assist in their breathing.
As horrible as the coronavirus is as it wreaks havoc across most of the United States, there’s another virus that is spreading even quicker then COVID-19 and it could potentially cause many more deaths: that virus is misinformation.
The Misinformation Virus, Much Like Coronavirus, Began Slowly
Even before this novel coronavirus turned into a global pandemic the misinformation virus surrounding COVID-19 had begun creeping in. There were politicians and media figures downplaying the virus, even going so far as to say it was less deadly than the flu. That was untrue then and it remains untrue today. COVID-19 is nearly 10 times deadlier then the seasonal flu and 3 times as contagious.
As the coronavirus spread throughout the United States, the misinformation virus surrounding it began spreading along with it. There were hosts of political opinion shows spouting that the very media they’re apart of were blowing the risks of the virus out of proportion. This misinformation was heard by tens of millions of people, who then went out to beaches, bars and just generally lived their lives as if a pandemic hadn’t been declared. This was as the number of cases began skyrocketing and the loss of life began. Concurrently, those numbers exploded even further after the social
Even the name of the virus, COVID-19, had turned into a misinformation campaign. Talk radio hosts, political opinion cable network hosts and even government officials were peddling misinformation about the names origins, saying the 19 stood for having 18 prior strains of the disease. In reality, COVID-19 means corona (CO) virus (VI) Disease (D) with 19 being the year that the first case arose.
Listen To Medical Experts on Medical Issues, Not Politicians or Commentators
There are politicians pushing unproven and untested drugs as a cure for COVID-19. Some of these politicians have financial interests in the drug manufacturer and continue to tout the drugs despite the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, flat out saying, “The answer is no”, when asked if the drug will prevent contracting coronavirus.
When this first began trickling out into the public, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn immediately issued a press release stating, “We may have the right drug, but it may not be in the appropriate dosage form right now, and that may do more harm than good…(The FDA) must ensure these products are effective; otherwise we risk treating patients with a product that might not work when they could have pursued other, more appropriate, treatments.”
Since that time, a study on the drug was terminated early when nearly 25% of the patients passed away from heart issues as a side effect of the drug. Shortly after the drug was touted by some politicians and some in the media, a man died trying a version of the drug on his own. The words he heard and believed drove him to the action which ended his life. He became another victim of the misinformation virus.
Numerous public figures touted cures and preventatives against coronavirus, actually charging the public money. One conspiracy theorist with millions of followers was warned by the FDA to immediately stop promoting his own line of toothpastes, mouthwashes and other various products as a treatment, cure or preventative of coronavirus.
An infamous televangelist huckster promoted a product from a “natural health expert” that for $80 per 4 ounce bottle “has been proven by the government that it has the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on, including SARS and HIV.” Additionally, she stated that “it has been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours. Totally eliminate it. Kills it. Deactivates it.”
Some churches have gone against the law and put their entire congregation at risk by insisting on holding church services during the coronavirus pandemic. One pastor, who made social media claims indicating that the “hysteria” over the pandemic was politically motivated, died shortly after. Another religious leader defied the law and brought hundreds to his church stating “God is larger than this dreaded virus. You can quote me on that”, passed away just two weeks later.
The Misinformation Virus Could Be Far Deadlier Then COVID-19
While the number of Americans who have lost their lives to this coronavirus tally 32,000, the misinformation virus will kill far more over time. This is because the misinformation virus isn’t just limited to COVID-19. It’s wreaked havoc for years through politics, through environmental issues, through our own news system, through our own military, police forces and government and even through wars.
When we are no longer a people who use basic reason to understand how sourcing and true journalism works, we have a problem. When we’re turning to YouTube videos, which can be created and uploaded by anyone at all, for the source of our news, we have a problem. When we label actual news agencies as “fake news” because we don’t like the facts that they’re reporting, we have a problem. When tens of millions of people a day get their information from news opinion shows rather than an actual news broadcast, we are in very troubled and dangerous waters.
And it shows. Only 39% of adult Americans can answer 9 out of 11 basic science and medical related questions. Only 26% of adult Americans can identify five out of five factual political statements. We can see just how much the misinformation virus has made the coronavirus pandemic much worse.
If we are to ever defeat the misinformation virus, we need to start in early education, teaching children the difference between facts and opinions. As they go through the education system, they should be progressively taught how to fact check sources using reputable sources. These would generally be the same sources they use for research papers. This alone would go a long way in to helping to defeat the misinformation virus that has infected our country. When you have an educated people, you have a more rational people and that makes it far easier to defeat biological viruses like the coronavirus.
We need to label opinion and analysis as just that and label news as news. There is clearly a significant part of the population that has been unable to tell the difference between an on air talent giving his or her opinion / analysis of a news story and an actual news broadcaster reading off the facts of the day. It is a vitally important difference that seems to be totally lost for so many in our country today.
Finally, we need technology companies to expand their use of fact checking services in important political, environmental and health related stories. The risks of allowing false information that could kill hundreds or thousands is just to big to do nothing. The more we do this, the more we invalidate the misinformation virus and ultimately, invalidation is what can truly kill it.
What do you think? What is the solution? What are your thoughts? Let me know and let’s talk in the comments.
