We have the tools to contain COVID-19 misinformation, we just aren’t using them
During the 2009 to 2010 H1N1 flu pandemic, the federal government was lauded for the steps it took to tackle false information about both the disease and the vaccine to treat it. (Pixabay/)Nearly 300,000 people globally have died in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and more than 80,000 of them are from the United States. To slow the rate of infections and “flatten the curve”, health officials and scientists worldwide have been working around the clock to better understand the novel virus and spread that information to the public. Despite these efforts, misinformation about SARS-CoV-2 still circulates the internet. But this isn’t the world’s first pandemic, nor is it the first time false information about a major public health crisis has spread across the web. However, lessons from these previous events, like the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic and earlier flu outbreaks, about how to effectively dispel false information and communicate scientific...