Omicron wave: Covid-19 took away two of our senses, one is smell. What is the other?

Patients have nearly lost their lives to Covid-19 from believing fake news and not getting timely medical help. (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels)

During the first wave, Covid-19 compromised our sense of smell. Then, it impaired a sense of another kind–common sense. Sadly, the latter impairment has persisted even during the third wave.

How else can anyone explain people trusting WhatsApp forwards with their lives?

True, these are confusing times. There is a new study or finding every day. So it can be difficult to remember who or which information source we can trust. But we have to try harder. This is an evolving field of study and so, while we can follow the broad guidelines provided by international health agencies and by central and state governments, we need to stay updated. We need to keep an open mind and be ready to break away from any treatment or therapy that has been proven ineffective. 

That said, open your mind, don’t hand it over lock-stock-and-barrel.

Read also: Coronavirus Omicron India Highlights

Fake news and exaggerated claims can lead to bizarre behaviours. Doctors witness this regularly, and it isn’t funny anymore. People have come close to losing their lives. Let me share some instances. 

One day, forwards that recommended a ‘ginger’ cure for Covid-19 began being circulated. They claimed that this ancient remedy was the answer and people started drinking ginger tea and ginger kashaya (a drink made from the root’s concentrate), and started mixing ginger in every kind of food. It was used as a prophylactic and to treat the initial symptoms of the viral infection. It caused gastrointestinal trouble but that wasn’t the real problem. The ‘treatment’ lulled people into a false sense of security and they delayed the hospital visit, which put the patient’s life at risk.

Another piece of ‘information’ that was being forwarded was that the Covid-19 vaccination causes myocardial infarction (also known as heart attack). Thanks to this ‘jewel’, people didn’t get inoculated and suffered a morbid condition when they caught the infection. 

Then there were patients’ relatives who were hesitating to put their loved ones on ventilators. Why? Why would they deny their parents and spouses such crucial support? These decision makers had received forwards that said that ventilators were extremely risky. Their scepticism cost lives.

Information–and not anything that blinks on your phone–is power. We need to choose our sources more responsibly, especially in the midst of this health emergency.

Read also: Omicron news roundup: All the important developments about the Covid variant you must know.

So here is my prescription.

When you are sent forwards, instead of giving in to the impulse of sharing it with ten other people, you could use some tools to check for authenticity. For example, use government websites to get the original releases and statements. Or, if images have been sent with claims, do a reverse image search on Google to check where these images originated and in what context. If it is a Facebook post, check who posted it and try to see if there is any vested interest, say to promote a treatment or a product.

You can also verify documents and images using FOCA (Fingerprinting Organisations with Collected Archives) which is an open-source tool for Windows that provides metadata information. If a Twitter account or accounts look suspicious, you can use Botometer to see if a bot is operating that account without human intervention. 

Read also: Health experts urge Spotify to implement misinformation policy

Now that we have the chaff out of the way, let’s get to the wheat. Here are a few trusted sources that I refer to. Hopefully, they will be of use to you.

For COVID-19 updates

*The Government of India website for Covid-19

https://www.mygov.in/covid-19

*Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

*CIDRAP: COVID-19

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19

*Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu

*MN Department of Health: Coronavirus

https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html

*World Health Organization (WHO): Novel coronavirus

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

*Rapid Reviews: COVID-19

https://rapidreviewscovid19.mitpress.mit.edu

When keeping up with the news

*WHO: Coronavirus: events as they happen

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen

For research on COVID-19

*ICMR's updates on research

https://www.icmr.gov.in/ctechdocad.html

*New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM): COVID-19

https://www.nejm.org/coronavirus

*Novel Coronavirus Information Center - Elsevier

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center

*Cochrane Reviews: Special Collections COVID-19

https://www.cochrane.org/news/special-collection-coronavirus-covid-19-evidence-relevant-critical-care

*British Medical Journal (BMJ): coronavirus

https://www.bmj.com/coronavirus

*The Lancet: COVID-19 Resource Centre

https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus

*WHO: Global Research on COVID-19

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/global-research-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov