Grappling with misinformation on deadly coronavirus outbreak

Dar es Salaam. Thousands of apparently desperate tweets resurfaced on Monday this week after one user posted a tweet about a Chinese national in Arusha who was believed to have been infected with the deadly Corona virus.

Although the tweet, and the suspected case were later denied by the Arusha’s city medical officer Dr Simon Chacha and deputy health minister Dr Faustine Ndugulile, such posts with unconfirmed information cause nothing but unnecessary public anxiety.

People have been desperate for information about the virus that have so far killed 259 and over 7,55 confirmed cases.Information seekers go for whatever snippets they can find; whether they’re true or not, often ending up in waves of misinformation.

On his twitter post the deputy health minister Dr Ndugulile explained: “There is no case of corona virus in Tanzania as the government continues to strengthen monitoring and preventive measures. Avoid dissemination of unconfirmed information.”

He insisted the ministry will provide regular updates on the steps taken by the government.

Still there’s no reported cases of the novel coronavirus in the African region. However, there are many links between China and the African continent that makes the virus a matter of great concern for Africa.

Since the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China on December last year as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) cycle of misinformation around the deadly disease have been all over different digital platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google. Users have been bombarded with panic posts, ranging from false information about the number of people infected, false case alerts and deaths.

In this age of social media contents, the public to go for credible and reliable information from trusted sources like public health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO).

A medical doctor from Tanzania who is currently pursuing further studies in China, Dr George Kanani says: “It very advisable for people to search for genuine source of information”.

The health ministry

In the face of growing public concern over the risk of the virus outbreak in the country, the government has sought to present itself as the authoritative source of information.

The ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, has been trying to update the public through different media platforms concerning safety tips, condition overview and even give advisory information.

On Wednesday, health minister Ummy Mwalimu said any suspected case should be communicated to authorities through numbers 0800110124 or 0800110125.

The ministry through its head of communication unit Gerald Chami on Friday providing insight on the virus, symptoms, and preventive measures and how the government plans to monitor the disease.

The ministry detailed how we as a country are at risk of outbreak due to our regular socio economic interaction with some of the infected countries, specifically China.

Dr Kanani spoke on the importance of regular updates, citing how China federal government provide updates every 24 hours. “The act of Information delivery should be precise and regular,” he said.

WHO

WHO has been providing daily updates on the steps taken to battle the spread of the disease in world.

I mediately after the outbreak, the organization have been publishing daily situation reports and up to yesterday (February 1), twelve reports have been published.

In their reports the WHO addresses countries, territories or areas with confirmed cases of the virus, infections risk assessments and developments done.

The organization also provides standard recommendation on how to prevent the infection.

WHO has published travel advice for international traffic on 27 January; the document includes advice for individual travelers on general measures to reduce the risk of acute respiratory infection, as well as advice on health measures related to international traffic.

Social media platforms have been a source for disseminating false information around the world.

On Twitter, the company estimated its users had sent more than 15 million tweets over the past few weeks related to the coronavirus.

Either way the company spokesperson was quoted by CNN article titled ‘As coronavirus spreads, so does online misinformation’ saying that the application had not seen “significant coordinated attempts to spread disinformation at scale about this issue.” The rapid spread of the misinformation has sent twitter, Facebook and Google to find ways to curb dangerous health disinformation, including posts, photos and videos.

Twitter have created an algorithms that will steer users searching for coronavirus related hashtags to the Centers for disease control and prevention.

Facebook claimed to be working with its fact-checking partners to debunk false claims about the virus. Once a user posts and links the containing claims are fact-checked, and if it found to be false, a Facebook spokesperson said, the platform “dramatically” cuts its distribution and people who see this content, try to share it, or already have, are alerted that it’s false.”

Tony Romm in the Washington Post explained on how Google-owned YouTube said its algorithm also prioritizes more credible sources. But still, a number of videos there include one with more than 430,000 views pushed dubious information about the origin of coronavirus and its means of transmission.

Miracle cures

WHO revealed that, to date there is no specific medicine recommended to protect or treat you against human coronavirus infection, however those infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms, and those with severe illness should receive optimized supportive care.

While some users in the internet spaces are asking for advice about masks and protective measures, others are sharing erroneous theories about both the cause of coronavirus and potential solutions.

Dr Kanani who has been in China since the virus outbreak occurred, says there are people who also believed that alcohol would help kill the virus.

WHO’s myth busters explained some specific treatments are under investigation, and will be tested through clinical trials. The organization is helping to accelerate research and development efforts with a range or partners.

Chinese cuisine

The biggest piece of information about the cause of the virus is the widely circulated video on WhatsApp about the type of food that people in China’s Hubei province eat, specifically bats and snakes.

The origins of the coronavirus are believed to have been from illegally sold wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan, and bats could potentially have been the source.

“Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people,” WHO commended.

Moreover, while researchers suspect the novel coronavirus may have originated with animals, it has not been established which species could have passed it on to humans.

Global emergency

WHO Director-General declared the novel corona virus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) after being advised by the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, which met in Geneva, Switzerland on 30 January.

Tanzania has been mentioned by WHO as one among 13 top priority countries which either have direct links or a high volume of travel to China.

Others include Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.