Misinformation on Telegram and SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces
We hope you had a good weekend. Coming up in this newsletter, Dr. Seema Yasmin answers some key questions about a second virus wave, vaccines and COVID-19 transmission through surfaces. We've got takeaways from Meedan's local news event last week, an article about COVID-19 misinformation spreading disease and problems with 'fake news' on Telegram.
Enjoy and don't forget to share the Checklist with your friends and family!
Your COVID-19 questions
Journalist and medical doctor, Dr. Seema Yasmin shares weekly highlights from Meedan's public health journalism tool, learnaboutcovid19.org.
Why do vaccine clinical trials sometimes stop or suspend operations?
Dr. Seema says: "While it’s frustrating and sometimes scary to hear that a COVID-19 vaccine trial has been stopped because of illness in a study participant, it’s actually a good indicator that safety protocols are in place and participants are being closely monitored. It’s also a pretty typical event for a clinical trial to be put on pause, especially when it involves tens of thousands of people receiving an experimental treatment. That’s because any illness -- whether it’s related to the medicine or not -- has to be investigated to determine if others are at risk. But investigating the true cause of the illness can take time as investigators answer the following questions: is the illness really due to the experimental vaccine or is it because of something else? How serious is it? What are the implications? There are also scheduled data checks that occur as a trial progresses, where independent safety monitoring boards review the trial before it’s complete. These independent boards can decide that the trial continue, or be stopped, which can happen for unfortunate reasons - the experimental treatment or vaccine is not safe - or for good reason - if the data overwhelmingly shows the treatment works and it’s therefore unethical to continue giving placebo to the control group. While it’s not unusual for clinical studies to stop and start, there is global scrutiny on COVID-19 vaccine trials, as the world waits for a vaccine that could help end the pandemic." (Read more on what our experts say here)
What are the markers of a second COVID-19 wave?
Dr. Seema says: "Epidemics are complicated events so there’s no single definition of first, second or subsequent waves. Typically you would expect a big decrease in cases to precede the beginning of a second wave, so that case counts fall dramatically and then rise. But it’s not always so clear cut and it depends on geography, susceptibility among populations, the pathogen itself and other factors. In some parts of the world, such as the U.S., it seems the first wave never ended because while there may have been a decrease in cases (in some areas) following an initial surge, the case count did not dip dramatically or stay low for a sustained period. Some are now referring to a third wave in the U.S. based on Covid-19 hospitalizations increasing, but this again varies from region to region." (Read more on what our experts say here)
What does the science say about COVID-19 on surfaces?
Dr. Seema says: "The World Health Organization and other health agencies say the most common way that people are becoming infected with the new coronavirus is through exposure to infectious droplets from other people. Specifically, infection is most likely to occur when a person is in close proximity (within 6 feet) to an infected person for more than 15 minutes. But more is being discovered about the viability of the virus on surfaces. In general, the virus can remain on some surfaces for a few hours up to a few days, depending on environmental factors like temperature and humidity, and the type of surface, with the amount of infectious virus diminishing over time. It is possible that a person could touch a contaminated surface and then touch their mouth, eyes or nose and become infected. This is why hand hygiene and disinfecting frequently-touched surfaces, remains important, along with mask-wearing and physical distancing." (Read more on what our experts say here)
Top stories
COVID Misinformation Is Killing People (Scientific American)
Amid an unprecedented misinfodemic, the science community, public health professionals, members of the public, and industry wrote this guide on how to effectively blunt the effect of misinformation surrounding COVID-19 responses. It includes a coordinated campaign of influencers supporting science and public health as well as detecting, understanding and exposing COVID-19-related misinformation through data science and behavioral analytics.
“The confluence of misinformation and infectious disease isn’t unique to COVID-19. Misinformation contributed to the spread of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and it plagues efforts to educate the public on the importance of vaccinating against measles. But when it comes to COVID-19, the pandemic has come to be defined by a tsunami of persistent misinformation to the public on everything from the utility of masks and the efficacy of school closures, to the wisdom behind social distancing, and even the promise of untested remedies.”— Amir Bagherpour and Ali Nouri, Scientific American
Unbridled Flow of Fake News on Telegram is Fuelling Hate in India (The Quint)
With over 400 million global subscribers, Telegram was introduced and is widely regarded as a competitor to WhatsApp. It can host up to 2,00,000 people in a private group as compared to 256 people allowed by WhatsApp and there are several public channels which can be accessed by anyone and everyone using the app. But while it is perceived as one of the safest communication channels, it is difficult to check the flow of fake news on Telegram.
"Telegram prevents data breach to a great extent, but these features namely — high broadcast potential, robust security apparatus and unchecked public groups — make it extremely difficult to monitor the flow of mis/disinformation and hate speech on the platform. We spoke to several experts who underlined the need to protect the privacy of the user and simultaneously introduce features which can check the spread of hate and fake news." — Himanshi Dahiya, The Quint
What’s new at Meedan
2019 Meedan Annual Report Now Online
Taking pride in being a global team, the Meedan 2019 Annual Report lists the cities and the countries we have traveled to in 2019, including global events, sponsoring local events and/or talking about misinformation and presenting the work we are doing.
We have always been, and will continue, developing the technology and the programs that help with creating more equitable internet with the aim of strengthening global journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information through our projects Check Global, Digital Health Lab, Credibility Coalition, Pop-Up Newsroom and Content Moderation.