HOW TO DETECT FAKE NEWS IN THE TIME OF CORONA
I think the majority of what is being circulated as news and events in the internet, especially in the Social Media is fake.
Being an anthropologist, one views everything from a different point of view and it is obvious to me that the sensationalism is stressed and the fact that led to it is hidden.
Examples during this time are deaths of prominent people or younger people:
39-year-old prominent Zimbabwean broadcaster died four days after being diagnosed with Covid-19
40-year-old Cuban-American who left his studies in medicine at home and now is working “14 hours a day to support his family” goes to a large gathering and within three days of becoming symptomatic, dies of respiratory failure. A photo of a very fit young man, muscular and appropriately tattooed is shown.
There were other cases of people, usually younger than the usual age of mortality with Covid-19 majority of whom are over 70 years of age and with comorbid conditions such as Diabetes, Heart disease or Renal Disease.
If you read the small print
The Zimbabwean had a lung tumour removed in November of last year and has been on immunosuppressive medications. That makes him in high risk category.
The 40 year old in Miami Beach was gay. While there has no studies to show that gay people are susceptible to covid-19, there was a plea of a consortium of about 40 LGBT Q organizations to the care providers that their members are in the high risk categories, they point out, their members are at higher risk for other diseases that seem to take advantage of some ?different immune mechanism, underlying or causative? I do not understand their scientific rationale but can understand their urgency as many prominent gay men, such as the President of the LGBTQ Bar Association also succumbed to the disease in a rapid fashion.
Social media has not been helpful at all. When you see a message or a video, attributed to a cousin who works for the Hospital or University or the Secret services, you know it is false. Scientists are not swayed easily by public opinion perhaps that is why Dr Anthony Fauci is getting pummeled by the fascist supporters of Trump, for them, Trump’s science is better suited to their narrow minded worldview than that of an illustrious scientist.
There are currently 935,571 confirmed cases and 47,202 deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of April 02, 2020, 01:20 GMT.
So, only one in two hundred persons had ended up dying and most of the people have some underlying conditions. Even if you are 65 plus years of age and have no underlying health conditions, your chance of survival is more than 90 percent. 94 per cent of the people who have acquired the virus are either asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms .
MOST IMPORTANTLY, PLEASE DO NOT INFECT ANOTHER PERSON KNOWINGLY AND UNWITTINGLY ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE IN THE HIGH RISK CATEGORY. IN THE WEST WE HAVE THE LUXURY OF SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THAT ALONE HAS BEEN HELPFUL.
FROM A PSYCHOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, PLEASE DO NOT STAY GLUED TO THE NEWS STATIONS. I NOTICED THAT EVEN CBS WAS REPEATEDLY SHOWING IMAGES WHICH WERE DAYS OLD. GET NETFLIX OR SPOTIFY OR SOME STREAMING SERVICE AND LISTEN TO MUSIC OR WATCH SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE NEWS.
SADHGURU is a mystic and he has some advice how to use this time more productively: Improve the best possession you have, YOUR MIND ..
It is about 45 minutes long and listen carefully and give full attention to Sadhguru.
All of us have the time now..
