8 Facts Regarding COVID-19
In an era where misinformation, propaganda and conspiracy theories are allowed to proliferate endlessly on social media, it is all the more important for people to stick with reliable sources of information. Here is an article from the Washington Post giving information and evidence about eight different facts regarding the coronavirus.
In short:
- Masks are highly effective in reducing the spread.
- There are no known cures for COVID.
- Hospitals have no reason to “cheat” or misdiagnose COVID.
- The coronavirus is more deadly than the flu.
- Coronaviruses do not affect a person’s DNA, staying home.
- Using hand sanitizer and washing our hands more often are healthy and do not harm the immune system.
- All the evidence points to the coronavirus originating in animals.
- Urging high-risk people to stay home and letting everyone else live normal lives would not “solve” the crisis.
Please urge your friends and family to stick with reliable sources of information, and not internet based opinion and misinformation. Moreover, if someone finds a “doctor” somewhere that has an opinion at odds with accepted science, resist the temptation to embrace what they say simply because they are a doctor and are telling you what you want to hear.
Yes, main stream medicine sometimes makes mistakes, and yes new evidence emerges to disrupt old dogma, or a Galileo emerges in any scientific field that reveals a truth we didn’t know before. But that is rare. Eventually, if new, disruptive theories turn out to be true, the evidence will confirm that. We urge everyone to stick with evidence-based behavior and critical thinking, not wishful thinking.