For New Pittsburgh Courier
While there is understandable concern about the spread of coronavirus, government officials and the media should not spread panic.
The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 70,548 people globally.
China has reported 1,770 deaths and nearly 69,000 confirmed cases on the mainland. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.
The U.N. health agency is now tackling misinformation over the virus outbreak.
Officials must navigate between fear about the spread of coronavirus and increasing international preparedness. While growth has been exponential in China, elsewhere cases remain under 150, scattered across nearly two-dozen countries.
“Instead of spending time on fear and panic, we should say this is the time to prepare,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization chief, “because 146 cases, by any standard, is very low.”
Meanwhile, the United States and other governments are clamping down on travel to China and airlines are suspending flights there. Airlines have canceled 25,000 flights to and within China. While caution is necessary officials must be sure not to say or do anything to fuel rising xenophobia and ostracism of China, which could lead to less transparency and information.
Since the outbreak began, a number of misleading claims and hoaxes about the virus have circulated online. They include false conspiracy theories that the virus was created in a lab and that vaccines have already been manufactured, exaggerations about the number of sick and dead, and claims about bogus cures.
Officials have expressed concerns that the outbreak and response have been accompanied by a massive “infodemic”—an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not—that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. The World Health Organization is doing the right by battling misinformation and working with social media to ensure that people get facts from the U.N. health agency first when they search for information about the virus. The WHO is working daily to identify the most prevalent rumors that can potentially harm the public’s health, such as false prevention measures or cures.
The news media and social media platforms must also take steps to limit the spread of misinformation and rumors about the outbreak.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
About Post Author
