Fauci Says Social Media Fuels the Spread of Disinformation, Has Impacted Pandemic 'More Adversely Than Favorably'

Anthony Fauci has actually said social media has actually affected the COVID-19 pandemic more negatively than favorably by fueling the spread of disinformation.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Illness, was interviewed by students at UC Berkeley on Thursday. He was asked how social media and other digital platforms have actually impacted the public’s reaction to COVID-19, given the quantity of false information about the disease that has spread out online.

Fauci said that some conspiracy theories and false information obstruct of people following public health guidance. He indicated individuals not wearing masks, thinking they will not get contaminated in a crowd, or that if they do get contaminated it will be useless because it is a “insignificant outbreak.”

” How could it be an insignificant outbreak if it has already eliminated 210,000 individuals in the United States, and a million individuals worldwide?” Fauci said. “However there are people out there that believe all of this is a big conspiracy, that we’ve made it up.”

The U.S. has been the country to report the most coronavirus and deaths for months. Of the 36.5 million cases worldwide, the U.S. comprises 7.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. Over 212,000 people have died in the U.S. of a total one million globally.

Fauci’s comments coma after a troubled week for the U.S. amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country sees to see if President Donald Trump will make a complete healing from the illness after checking positive for the coronavirus a week ago.

On Wednesday, Trump shared a video on Twitter and facebook in which he incorrectly described a speculative drug he had actually been provided as a “treatment.”

Before being discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday following a three-day stay, Trump downplayed the infection, tweeting: “Feeling really good! Don’t hesitate of Covid Do not let it dominate your life. We have established, under the Trump Administration, some really excellent drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”

Medical professionals treated Trump with drugs including dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid; a monoclonal antibody treatment that simulates part of the immune reaction; and remdesivir, an antiviral drug. This combination of treatments is not believed to have actually been given to a coronavirus client before.

Cassandra Pierre, transmittable illness doctor and healthcare facility epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center informed Newsweek via email the mixed drink of drugs “alters the public’s considered what can be provided and available for the treatment of COVID-19″

She stated it could make individuals believe “a fast pit stop at your regional healthcare facility for a cocktail of speculative medications is sufficient to return to work.”

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Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Transmittable Diseases at NIH, affirms at a Senate committee on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Fauci has stated that social networks has actually impacted the pandemic “negatively.”
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https://www.thenewsedge.com/2020/10/10/fauci-says-social-media-fuels-the-spread-of-disinformation-has-impacted-pandemic-more-adversely-than-favorably/

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