The new enemy in Wichita’s battle against COVID-19? Disinformation
Like any major news event, the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a fire hose of crucial information — and just as much bogus nonsense.
The World Health Organization’s myth-busting page highlights just a few of the already refuted rumors out there: that 5G mobile networks spread COVID-19 (they don’t), that sunlight kills the coronavirus (it doesn’t), that rinsing your nose with saline or eating garlic or taking antibiotics or drinking alcohol will make you immune from the disease (if only).
And now come the conspiracy theories.
If you’ve been on social media the past few days, you’ve no doubt seen someone share “Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind COVID-19,” a 26-minute video about the coronavirus pandemic. (Or they tried to share it: Facebook and YouTube pledged to remove copies of the video from their platforms, saying it violates their policies by promoting potentially harmful claims.)
The main subject of the video is Judy Mikovits, a discredited former medical researcher who argues that the coronavirus pandemic was created to make profits off vaccines.
Among other claims that defy the advice of medical experts, the video suggests that sheltering in place harms consumers’ immune systems and that masks can make people sicker.
We shouldn’t be surprised by coronavirus conspiracy theories. Lunatics have said the U.S. government was complicit in 9/11, that the Sandy Hook school shooting never happened, and that Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring out of a Washington D.C. pizza restaurant.
So of course a pandemic that essentially shuts down global commerce is going to bring out the nut jobs.
But this time it’s especially troubling, because misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories can affect people’s behavior and worsen an already devastating public health crisis.
Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious disease specialist in Wichita, posted his own response to that threat Thursday on his personal Facebook page, sharing a heartbreaking story from a local hospital:
“Yesterday a 12 year old girl and her 19 year old brother waved goodbye to my patient, their previously healthy 40 year old mother through the window of her ICU room because they couldn’t physically be with her as she died from CoVID19. I never want to see that again,” Moore wrote.
“But posting and sharing conspiracy theories and disinformation about this virus ensures that the ruining of lives will be repeated many times over. Please think before you post nonsense. It will kill people, either directly or indirectly.”
Moore’s post made the rounds locally as well, but it didn’t get the millions of views that the provocative “Plandemic” video garnered. We can only hope the Wichita doctor’s message will prompt some to pause and consider their sources before blindly accepting or willingly spreading dangerous rumors.
Moore himself has been a target of criticism, particularly after he and other local doctors urged Sedgwick County leaders to wait a little longer before loosening stay-at-home restrictions.
Moore’s dire mid-March prediction — that up to 35,000 Sedgwick County residents could be hospitalized with COVID-19 — hasn’t happened, thank goodness, at least in part because of proactive social distancing measures.
But Moore’s best-case scenario — a few cases here and there, some severe, “but we . . . keep them alive until they recover” — hasn’t happened either. As of Friday, more than 6,500 Kansans have tested positive for COVID-19, and 152 have died.
Let’s get one thing straight: COVID-19 is real. It’s still a danger, it’s still spreading, and it continues to affect people of all ages, right here in Wichita.
The most accurate advice doesn’t offer a miracle, but it’s the best we have: Wash your hands often. Avoid touching your face. Avoid crowds. Keep a sensible distance from people. Don’t travel unless absolutely necessary. And in public places where social distancing is difficult, such as grocery stores, wear a mask.
Assuming you’re immune, or that this pandemic is all some big conspiracy, is dangerous thinking.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 5:05 PM.
