{"id":740,"date":"2020-03-20T07:44:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T07:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=740"},"modified":"2020-08-07T08:48:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T08:48:22","slug":"dont-blame-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darylilbury.com\/?p=740","title":{"rendered":"Don’t blame Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alright, I\u2019ve had enough\u2026I have to say something.<\/p>\n

As a science journalist and writer, I\u2019ve been keeping an eye on the coronavirus with a mix of fascination and grim satisfaction. Fascination, because such viruses are rare, and grim satisfaction because the blind panic taking hold is what happens when qualified science journalists are cut from the news equation.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get the science stuff out the way: Firstly, this coronavirus is so new there\u2019s still confusion over what it\u2019s called. The virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2 because it\u2019s related to the SARS coronavirus we saw in 2002-2003. It\u2019s sometimes referred to as the \u2018novel coronavirus\u2019, meaning \u2018new\u2019, because it was only identified at the end of last year. The World Health Organisation refers to \u2018COVID-19\u2019. That\u2019s not the virus, but the disease<\/em> that develops from the virus – an acute respiratory illness akin to a nasty bout of flu. The title-case \u2018Covid-19\u2019 is perfectly acceptable. I prefer it – it\u2019s less \u2018shouty\u2019.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the virus has no brain, cannot think, and therefore has no purpose. This is an important clarification because the virus has been blamed for closing down schools, cancelling sport events, collapsing markets, and generally spreading panic. Viruses can\u2019t do that, only humans can. So, saying such-and-such event happened \u201cbecause of the virus\u201d, is giving the virus more credit than it deserves.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, any virus is biologically coded to replicate, and it can\u2019t do that effectively if the host dies before the virus has a chance to jump ship. So someone dying directly after contracting a virus is not doing that virus any favours. Viruses come and go, only those that can adapt stick around. HIV is a perfect case in point. Now THAT\u2019S a scary virus.<\/p>\n

Fourthly, Covid-19 – the disease caused by the coronavirus – can<\/em> kill; but then so can flu, and rushing in your car to your doctor to be tested for Covid-19 when you feel a nasty cough coming on.<\/p>\n

Knowing this, I\u2019ve watched supermarket shelves empty of toilet rolls, people sneeze into their elbows then \u2018elbow-bump’ someone else with the same<\/em> elbow, and people confidently striding through airports \u2018armed\u2019 with face masks they\u2019ve just touched after grabbing the handles of their suitcases they\u2019ve pulled off the conveyor.<\/p>\n

Media and consumer gullibility are to blame for the confusion and panic. As I explain to scientists wanting to write for mainstream media, \u2018tension gets attention\u2019. But there are subtle ways to do that. Media stories about Covid-19 infections that point to the number of deaths are unequivocally designed to get your attention. The onus is then on you to do the maths and realise, actually, just about everyone survives.<\/p>\n

The tone of media reports is key to their translation. Commentators encouraging people to \u2018be with your families at this time\u2019, whilst seemingly benign are actually screaming \u201cit\u2019s the end-of-days\u2026.a zombie apocalypse\u2026.we\u2019re all gonna die\u2026aaaargh!\u201d Breathless phrases like \u2018the war on coronavirus\u2019 are designed to hype the situation, and don\u2019t help. And whoever was responsible for the Cape Times billboard shouting \u2018Killer Virus\u2019 should be taken outside and shot. It\u2019s not a \u2018killer virus\u2019. A \u2018killer virus\u2019 would kill you. Every time. It\u2019s why peanuts are not called \u2018killer nuts\u2019\u2026except, maybe, by the Cape Times.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, figures out of context tell only part of the story; or as I like to say: \u2018content is king, context is King Kong\u2019. The ages and states of health of people before they were infected are important. Covid-19 is especially harmful to the elderly and already unhealthy. At the risk of sounding harsh, that\u2019s evolution for you – and that\u2019s from someone shuffling towards retirement age! It\u2019s also why Covid-19 may thrive on cruise ships, which are popular with elderly tourists. The relatively high death toll in Italy could probably be because whereas in most Western cultures elderly people are farmed off to retirement homes or to die alone in draughty apartments, the Italians are more caring, and prefer to keep their \u2018nonnas\u2019 close at (now, unfortunately, virus-covered) hand. That, for me, is one of the real tragedies of this pandemic.<\/p>\n

Science journalists are specialists in all this stuff. But, more importantly, they\u2019re the critical eye and composed voice for any story claiming to speak for science. If a sub-editor wants to run with \u201cScientists say coffee gives you cancer!\u201d, the science journalist is the one recommending otherwise, pointing out the research involved pumping massive caffeine overdoses into a dozen rats, and so has no bearing on billions of humans.<\/p>\n

Science journalists know that every bit of research is a very small piece in a very big, very complicated puzzle. In all the discordant clutter around Covid-19, they\u2019re the ones searching for the pieces of truth and fitting them together to get the full picture.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, now that Covid-19 is here just on the cusp of our flu season, nogal<\/em>, this is what you should know: South African mainstream news media has few qualified science journalists. Following the 2007\/2008 financial crash and the viral growth of social media, science journalists were the first to be culled by major news organisations looking to cut costs. Right now, while those same organisations are scrambling to make sense of what\u2019s happening, social media – that unfettered phalanx of totally unqualified commentators – will largely define the Covid-19 narrative in South Africa.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why someone asked me the other day if it\u2019s true \u201cyou can get coronavirus from eating pilchards\u201d, and why someone else told me they\u2019re not concerned because \u201conly white people catch coronavirus\u201d.<\/p>\n

So, keep calm, and stay off social media, it\u2019s probably more dangerous than the virus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alright, I\u2019ve had enough\u2026I have to say something. As a science journalist and writer, I\u2019ve been keeping an eye on the coronavirus with a mix of fascination and grim satisfaction. 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