“Infodemic”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the “pneumonia of unknown cause” was first reported by China on December 31, 2019. Since then, WHO provides daily situation reports to offer accurate data on the rapid spread of COVID-19. In today’s situation report (report #66) we learned that over 462,000 people are confirmed to have the virus and confirmed new cases are now nearing 50,000 daily. Today’s new case count is 10,000 more than yesterday and the United States just passed all other countries in infections.
What seems to be spreading almost as fast as the virus itself are rumors and misinformation (also known as an “Infodemic”) about symptoms, testing, contagion, and remedies. While it is imperative to stay vigilant with hygiene, social distancing, and disinfection routines to decrease the rate at which the contagion spreads, staying informed with accurate information is also important. To help determine the difference between real and fake facts, I thought it might be useful to provide a list of reputable resources to which you may refer.
World Health Organization (WHO):
Useful for data on the current COVID-19 global pandemic.
Home page: https://www.who.int/
Coronavirus page: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Situation dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd
Situation reports: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
Useful for tips on symptoms, home care, disinfecting your home and outbreak updates with a map indicating updated State infection data.
Home page: https://www.cdc.gov/
Coronavirus page: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
Cases in U.S. page: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
Snopes
Useful to fact check for rumors and misinformation, and prevent scams on all topics, including COVID-19 (preventions, symptoms, responses).
Home page: https://www.snopes.com/
Coronavirus page: https://www.snopes.com/collections/new-coronavirus-collection/
Other Verification Methods
Reuters – Useful article from Reuters Community that lists seven verification tools for fact-checking.
Article page: https://www.reuterscommunity.com/topics/newsroom-of-the-future/7-verification-tools-for-better-fact-checking/
Society of Professional Journalists – Recent journalist toolbox article that provides tons of fact-checking resources.
Article page: https://www.journaliststoolbox.org/2020/03/15/urban_legendsfact-checking/
Keep informed and be safe! Aloha. Always.
Kalei
Our lives are complex. The wealth management services provided by the Cadinha team are equipped to extend ‘Beyond Investments’ in an effort to consider the many complex issues that our client’s face. Kalei’s Comments captures our thoughts about some of these issues and intends to provide insight and information to people seeking financial planning and investment advice.
