Combating Coronavirus and the Spread of Misinformation

By Roxanne Cox, Afrolatin@ Project Board Member

In this day and age of technology and social media, the spread of misinformation has become an increasing problem. A problem that our community can not afford. The disparities in health among Blacks & Latinos in the U.S. compared to the general population varies drastically, with a life expectancy of 76.1 for Blacks, 81.9 for Latinos and 79.8 for non-Hispanic whites according to the Census Bureau. Although the various media outlets are supposed to inform the public, as citizens we are also responsible for equipping ourselves with the proper knowledge to make educated decisions. When it comes to our health and safety, protection; prevention is our best defense. Now, there are a lot of myths and speculations circulating
about the Coronavirus. And I get it!! There’s a lot that’s unknown about this virus. So, I’m not here to debate anyone’s view on where this virus came from; however, it is important to know that it does exist & anyone can be infected. This is not to add to the already existed hysteria out there as that is the other end of the extreme. Just shedding light to the concern. The World Health Organization’s Director General has now characterized this outbreak as a Pandemic, which should not be taken lightly. Although a majority of the cases reported have been in Asia and Europe, there are cases reported of various races and ages in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. To date, 113 cases are reported across 11 African countries. Brazil has 34 cases, Chile has 17 cases, Costa Rica has 13 cases and Panama has 8 cases with 1 death.

According to the following CNN piece, a Nigerian man traveled from Nigeria to Washington but tested positive for the virus in Maryland, which means he was not on the CBP’s radar at the airport according to the State Department’s high risk countries. Mi gente, let’s not wait until it really hits home to be concerned. Then everyone will be looking for a treatment & another host of conspiracy theories on poisoning the body will emerge. There’s nothing to lose in taking extra precautions but a lot to lose if you get sick. This does not only apply to the Coronavirus but for all the viruses out there, known and unknown. It is also an extremely bad flu season. Understanding that all the information being thrown at us on a daily basis is overwhelming, especially if you’re not in this field of Infectious Diseases. But I strongly encourage people to do their own research and follow basic, proper hygiene methods for prevention!

Here are a few helpful resources:

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu;
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019;
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Stay Safe!!