COVID-19 Saga – Should Politics Or Science Lead The Response To A Pandemic? – Concluding part

Concluding part

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA

Role in The Outbreak, Spread and Treatment of COVID-19

The traditional role of the media could be said to be the dissemination of information without fear or favour. The US media – echoed by the media worldwide – could not be said to have fulfilled this duty when events that occurred since December 2019 are critically examined. The first indication that the MSM role in the fight against the pandemic would be biased was their reportage on the travel ban. The narrative simply criticized the actions of the US President and stripped the response of science experts’ input, contrary to the fact the flight ban was advised by experts (Nebehay, 2020; Re, 2020). The media’s aforementioned “fish tank cleaner” HCQ death report whose reportage was also erroneous, provides further evidence of the media’s bias. This bias – along political ideologies – would later extend to the social media and search engines giants (Big Tech) playing a de-marketing and censorship role in shutting down qualified voices who had the scientific authority to offer informed opinions (Peek, 2020).

The Big Tech were prominent in reducing the universe of information and actively discouraged plurality of scientific opinions by censoring information and research backed professional opinions pushed out by medical doctors, virologists, epidemiologists. This is evidenced in this news publication “Tech platforms scrambled this week to delete a video featuring seven doctors who claimed their front-line knowledge of the pandemic contradicts the guidance of public health experts…” (USATODAY, 2020). In an arguably bizarre contrast, celebrities, a tech billionaire and a child activist were promoted by the MSM and Big Tech as “authorities” on a disease and pandemic they had little/no professional expertise in (Miller, 2020; CNN, 2020). Perhaps chief of this is the philanthropist billionaire Microsoft founder whose prediction that COVID-19 would devastate African nations (Nwachukwu, 2020) arguably influenced the decisions taken by African leaders more than science-based reactions to the pandemic.

One of the most controversial issue in many countries excluding China was the wearing of facemask as a means of halting the spread of the virus. The MSM and Big Tech unarguable took a stance on what they believe was right, they promoted only the opinions of scientists who insisted that the mass use of masks would reduce the spread (Adams, 2020; Webmd, 2020). The science of masks however appears to disagree with the assertion that the use of any type of masks could control the spread of the virus (Qaseem et al., 2020). There are various types of masks and they include the N95, surgical and cloth masks. These three types became the focus of discussions with regards to their community use to stem the virus. Despite the lack of evidence showing that cloth masks were effective (Mahase, 2020; Leung & Sun, 2020), coupled with the lack of electrostatic fiber (as incorporated in N95 and surgical masks), scientists – allowed by the Big Tech and MSM to speak – promoted its use, presenting it as backed by science when its not. The “cloth does not stop isolated virions” (Clase et al., 2020; Madigan & Brock, 2009) yet medical professionals who point out these scientific facts were censored which made the effort to halt the spread of the virus not evidence based rather propaganda. Perhaps this explains why the virus kept spreading despite the community wearing of cloth and surgical masks. These acts of censorship extended to the search for an effective treatment regimen and protocol for the disease. MSM and Big Tech rather encourage the use of their platform as a collaborative tool that could allow medical professionals separated by vast distances and professional circles quickly communicate, they became a tool shutting down valid professional experiences of what worked or not, and vested all scientific authority largely to WHO and various CDCs (Barkoukis, 2020), yet WHO have had to walk back statements that turned out were erroneous showing those censored were correct (Lovelace, Feuer, & Kim, 2020). This tactic – which could be defended on the need to protect the public from misinformation – can be impeached by the fact that many of those censored were the actual medical team on the field whilst those allowed to speak were not in reality treating actual patients.

Prominent in the arguable harm the MSM and Big Tech caused many countries is the controversial debate on the effectiveness of the use of HCQ/CQ to treat COVID-19. Research shows that HCQ is effective in vitro in destroying coronaviruses (Vincent et al., 2005; Barnard et al., 2006; Kono et al., 2008). Further research shows its use with Zinc – where the HCQ/CQ acts as the Zinc ionophore to deliver the Zinc into the cell cytosol (Xue et al., 2014) – was also effective in vitro. The mechanism of action also appears to be clear. The Zinc being an ion is unable to permeate the cell wall. Thus, used on its own, has its actions limited to outside the cell wall. The coronavirus however lives and replicates inside the cell cytosol after breaching the cell walls (Knoops et al., 2008). This virus being an envelope virus is protected by a lipid outer layer that gives its resilience against antibodies (Abu-Farha et al., 2020). The Zinc can however dissolve this lipid and thus expose the virus RNA to be degraded and eliminated. HCQ/CQ thus act as “carriers” for the Zinc to access the cytosol, strip the protective lipid off the virus, allowing the body’s natural defences to kill off the virus (Te Velthuis et al., 2010) at the same time inhibiting viral growth. The MSM and Big Tech in their censorship and aforementioned bias, linked the use of HCQ as an effective treatment to the President – who merely repeated what medical professionals told him – and arguably politicized a treatment vouched for by several field medical doctors. Whilst the treatment at the time had not gone through the gold standard – clinical trials that include a randomized double blinded placebo controlled trial, the reportage and censorship of the MSM and Big Tech effectively attributed a possible effective treatment backed by research into a “political treatment” touted by a political figure (Sarkis, 2020). Some retrospective studies did conclude that HCQ was of little benefit in the treatment of COVID-19 (Rakedzon, Khoury, Rozenberg & Neuberger, 2020), others however did show that same HCQ/Zinc regimen was effective (Carlucci et al., 2020). The Nigeria NAFDAC further affirmed the efficacy of CQ in the early treatment of COVID-19 (Muanya, 2020), but the censorship and subsequent attendant behavioral modification could be said to have relegated that effectiveness into white noise.

The media and Big Tech bias did not end with controversial drugs. They would also go against the vaccine development based on their political position on the US president. The assertion by the US president in October 2020 that a vaccine would be available by November 2020 was politicised and discredited by the MSM and even prominent US scientists (USATODAY, 2020). A narrative that the vaccine would be unsafe because it would be a rushed product by the US president arguably undermined confidence in the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine (Garrett, 2020; O’Leary, 2020). Perhaps this issue is the greatest indicator of media bias because the vaccine was indeed ready by November 2020, a date the MSM generally said was impossible despite having the resources to investigate the US Presidents claim and accurately informing the populace.

US CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH

Role in The Spread of COVID-19

The US CDC/NIH perhaps holds sway when it comes to international “barometric” readings of what to do regarding the SARS-CoV-2 virus after the WHO. It would thus explain why the pronouncements coming from them tailors the response of other nations CDCs to the COVID-19 virus. This leadership role however becomes questionable when certain statements that emanated from them are critically examined. The head of US NIH was on record in February 2020 (at the incipient stage of the spread of the virus in the US) that the community use of masks was not only ineffective in slowing the spread but could actually increase the rate of infection in the individuals as they fidgeted with the masks (MSN, 2020). This arguably affected the push for the use of masks in other nations within the same period. Despite the science of masks not changing a few months later, He is again documented asserting that cloth, surgical and unfitted N95 masks would slow down the spread of the virus (PBS, 2020). Such capitulation of positions – unbacked by science – could be said to have contributed to the spread of the virus. If masks worked, why did the NIH director say they didn’t in February 2020? Whatever the reasons for “falsely” representing science in February is, wouldn’t it be unethical for a scientist to jettison data and mislead the people? One would expect the CDC/NIH to be guided by science in their instructions, however if what they say appears to negate established science and contemporary findings, could they not thus be held responsible for poor containment of the spread of the virus?

The CDC/NIH response to scientific research as regards some therapeutics such as Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and Dexamethasone also calls into question their response being guided by science (Irfan, 2020). Political considerations and interference were alleged to have tailored their response to the research conclusions on these drugs and health guidelines (Majunder, 2020; McEvoy, 2020) and these become hard to fault when Dr Fauci’s aforementioned response to the Presidents assertions – on November 2020 availability of Covid-19 vaccine – are examined.

EXPERTS – THEIR SPREAD AND RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Experts in various fields – especially medical and academia – are arguably the first points of call for guidance on the spread and response to the pandemic. They could thus be said to be responsible in part for the progress or lack of it against the virus. The academia and scientific community already have a peer review standard and an established gold standard for clinical trials. These are supposed to be insulated from politics and public hysteria as steps are meticulously followed to arrive at conclusions that can be defended and/or replicated in line with established processes of scientific inquiry. An examination of how they appeared to have given approval for the silencing of dissenting opinions from their peers by MSM and Big Tech would arguably make them as culpable as the censors.

Perhaps the greatest pointer to the failure of expertise is the taciturn approval for the governmental double standards in the enforcing of the attendant movement lockdowns carried out in various countries. Whilst political and social justice mass demonstrations were allowed to proceed (often without mandated wearing of masks and social distancing), gatherings (especially religious or politically opposing ones) were prohibited ostensibly based on the same “science” from the experts (Jha, 2020). “Racism and oppression are a public health issue” an infectious diseases expert named Dr. Abby Hussein was quoted to have said (CBC, 2020).

These double standards – that require no science to reveal its absurdity – perhaps hurt the credibility of the academic and scientific community more than the censorship by MSM and Big Tech. Whilst the layman may not understand which drug may be effective or which vaccine may work, they wouldn’t need to be scientists to understand that viruses cannot distinguish one gathering from the other, and thus, such passes given political demonstrations essentially point to the fact that the experts were not being driven by science but by other considerations.

CONCLUSION

Science or Politics?

In conclusion, just as the developed vaccine for the coronavirus target the spikes that give the virus its name, perhaps the targeting of the “human” spikes could strip them of the politics of the response and allow science take the lead in halting the spread and developing a treatment for Covid-19. If WHO had allowed science lead, the PRC would have been unable to mislead the organization. If the CDCs and Governments had allowed science to speak, better political decisions could have been made. If the MSM and Big Tech had allowed science lead, they would have allowed the plurality of expert opinions and become editors of information they are unqualified to censor.

Without science taking the lead in response to this pandemic and at the same time leaving political decisions with politicians, it may take humanity longer than necessary to agree on a treatment and could lead to a prolongation of the pandemic with attendant loss of lives and destruction of the global economy.

Here are the references for you to check out yourself. With the unprecedented censorship however, some links may have been scrubbed from the internet by the BigTech. We are in dangerous times.

References

Abu-Farha, M., Thanaraj, T., Qaddoumi, M., Hashem, A., Abubaker, J., & Al-Mulla, F. (2020). The Role of Lipid Metabolism in COVID-19 Virus Infection and as a Drug Target. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences, 21(10), 3544. doi: 10.3390/ijms21103544

Adams, S. (2020, November 22). Two top academics accuse Facebook of ‘censorship’ over article warning. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8973631/Two-Oxford-academics-accuse-Facebook-censorship-article-warning.html

Arshad, S., Kilgore, P., Chaudhry, Z., Jacobsen, G., Wang, D., & Huitsing, K. et al. (2020). Treatment with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and combination in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. International Journal Of Infectious Diseases, 97, 396-403. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.06.099

Babazadeh, A., Afshar, Z., Ebrahimpour, S., Javanian, M., Koppolu, V., Vasigala, V., & Hasanpour, A. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), MERS and SARS: Similarity and difference. Journal Of Acute Disease, 9(5), 194. doi: 10.4103/2221-6189.291283

Barkoukis, L. (2020, September 14). Big tech removes a video from prominent think tank for contradicting WHO on coronavirus. Retrieved from https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/09/14/big-tech-removes-a-video-from-stanfords-hoover-institution-for-contradicting-who-n2576147

Barnard, D., Day, C., Bailey, K., Heiner, M., Montgomery, R., & Lauridsen, L. et al. (2006). Evaluation of Immunomodulators, Interferons and Knownin VitroSARS-CoV Inhibitors for Inhibition of SARS-Cov Replication in BALB/c Mice. Antiviral Chemistry And Chemotherapy, 17(5), 275-284. doi: 10.1177/095632020601700505

BBC. (2020, April 22). Coronavirus: Caution urged over Madagascar’s ‘herbal cure’. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52374250

Busari, S., & Adebayo, B. (2020, March 23). Nigeria records chloroquine poisoning after Trump endorses it for coronavirus treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/africa/chloroquine-trump-nigeria-intl/index.html

Carlucci, P., Ahuja, T., Petrilli, C., Rajagopalan, H., Jones, S., & Rahimian, J. (2020). Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin plus zinc vs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin alone: outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.02.20080036

CBC. (2020, June 8). Over 1,000 health experts sign letter supporting anti-Black racism protests despite COVID-19 risks. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5603024/over-1-000-health-experts-sign-letter-supporting-anti-black-racism-protests-despite-covid-19-risks-1.5603025

Clase, C., Fu, E., Joseph, M., Beale, R., Dolovich, M., & Jardine, M. et al. (2020). Cloth Masks May Prevent Transmission of COVID-19: An Evidence-Based, Risk-Based Approach. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 173(6), 489-491. doi: 10.7326/m20-2567

CNN. (2020, September 22). Bill Gates: Trump’s China travel ban ‘seeded’ COVID-19 outbreak – CNN video. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/09/22/bill-gates-china-coronavirus-covid-dr-paul-sax-nr-vpx.cnn

Coronavirus | Human Coronavirus Types | CDC. (2020). Retrieved 29 December 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html

Dörner, T. (2010). Hydroxychloroquine in SLE: old drug, new perspectives. Nature Reviews Rheumatology, 6(1), 10-11. doi: 10.1038/nrrheum.2009.235

Dr. Fauci backed funding for controversial Wuhan lab studying origin of coronavirus. (2020, April 29). Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-studying-coronavirus/

Drugs.com. (2020, July 2). Hydroxychloroquine. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.drugs.com/hydroxychloroquine.html

Feldwisch-Drentrup, H. (2020, April 2). How WHO became China’s coronavirus accomplice. Retrieved from https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/02/china-coronavirus-who-health-soft-power/

FOX TV. (2020, July 28). Arizona man died, wife critical after taking fish tank cleaner to prevent coronavirus infection. Retrieved from https://www.fox6now.com/news/arizona-man-died-wife-critical-after-taking-fish-tank-cleaner-to-prevent-coronavirus-infection

Garrett, L. (2020, September 3). Trump’s vaccine can’t be trusted. Retrieved from https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/03/trumps-vaccine-cant-be-trusted/

Gilbertson, D. (2020, January 27). Coronavirus screenings to expand to 15 new US airports; CDC warns against travel to China. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2020/01/27/cdc-travelers-avoid-all-nonessential-travel-china-due-coronavirus/4592635002/

Gorvett, Z. (2020, February 16). The tricky politics of naming the new coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200214-coronavirus-swine-flu-and-sars-how-viruses-get-their-names

Griffiths, J. (2020, February 17). WHO’s relationship with China under scrutiny due to coronavirus crisis. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/asia/coronavirus-who-china-intl-hnk/index.html

Hodge, M. (2020, August 23). Hunt for ‘Patient zero’ scientist who ‘disappeared’ from Wuhan lab. Retrieved from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12476233/patient-zero-scientist-wuhan-lab/

Hoffman, J., & Vazquez, M. (2020, May 29). Trump announces end of US relationship with World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/politics/donald-trump-world-health-organization/index.html

Hoppe, T. (2018). “Spanish Flu”: When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected. American Journal Of Public Health, 108(11), 1462-1464. doi: 10.2105/ajph.2018.304645

Irfan, U. (2020, October 24). The FDA approved remdesivir to treat COVID-19. Scientists are questioning the evidence. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/21530401/remdesivir-approved-by-fda-covid-19-fda-gilead-veklury

Italiano, L. (2020, July 31). Fauci says Trump’s coronavirus policy decisions helped save lives. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/07/31/fauci-says-trumps-coronavirus-policy-decisions-helped-save-lives/

Jha, A. (2020, July 1). Why protests aren’t as dangerous for spreading coronavirus as you might think | Ashish Jha. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/18/anti-racism-protests-coronavirus-rise-covid-19-cases

Knoops, K., Kikkert, M., Worm, S., Zevenhoven-Dobbe, J., van der Meer, Y., & Koster, A. et al. (2008). SARS-Coronavirus Replication Is Supported by a Reticulovesicular Network of Modified Endoplasmic Reticulum. Plos Biology, 6(9), e226. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060226

Koetsier, J. (2020, March 17). Facebook Deleting Coronavirus Posts, Leading To Charges Of Censorship. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/03/17/facebook-deleting-coronavirus-posts-leading-to-charges-of-censorship/?sh=28c0fe785962

Kono, M., Tatsumi, K., Imai, A., Saito, K., Kuriyama, T., & Shirasawa, H. (2008). Inhibition of human coronavirus 229E infection in human epithelial lung cells (L132) by chloroquine: Involvement of p38 MAPK and ERK. Antiviral Research, 77(2), 150-152. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2007.10.011

Lee, L., Cazier, J., Starkey, T., Briggs, S., Arnold, R., & Bisht, V. et al. (2020). COVID-19 prevalence and mortality in patients with cancer and the effect of primary tumour subtype and patient demographics: a prospective cohort study. The Lancet Oncology, 21(10), 1309-1316. doi: 10.1016/s1470-2045(20)30442-3

Leung, W., & Sun, Q. (2020). Electrostatic charged nanofiber filter for filtering airborne novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and nano-aerosols. Separation And Purification Technology, 250, 116886. doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.116886

Lovelace, B., Feuer, W., & Kim, J. (2020, June 9). WHO walks back comments on asymptomatic coronavirus spread, says much is still unknown. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/09/who-scrambles-to-clarify-comments-on-asymptomatic-coronavirus-spread-much-is-still-unknown.html

Madigan, M., & Brock, T. (2009). Brock biology of microorganisms. San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings.

Mahajan, A., & Hirsch, J. (2020). Novel Coronavirus: What Neuroradiologists as Citizens of the World Need to Know. American Journal Of Neuroradiology, 41(4), 552-554. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.a6526

Mahase, E. (2020). Covid-19: What is the evidence for cloth masks?. BMJ, m1422. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m1422

McEvoy, J. (2020, August 26). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/08/26/reports-trump-administration-pressured-cdc-to-change-asymptomatic-testing-guidelines/?sh=49a532341f8b

Miller, A. M. (2020, December 23). 3 COVID-19 breakthroughs Bill Gates says ‘will make 2021 better than 2020’. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/3-covid-19-breakthroughs-bill-gates-says-will-make-2021-better-than-2020/articleshow/79885926.cms

Miller, Y. W., & Shannon, J. (2020, July 30). ‘America’s frontline doctors’ may be real doctors, but experts say they don’t know what they’re talking about. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/30/americas-frontline-doctors-tout-hydroxychloroquine-covid-who-they/5535096002/

MSN. (2020, July 16). Fauci says he doesn’t regret telling Americans not to wear masks at the beginning of the pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fauci-says-he-doesnt-regret-telling-americans-not-to-wear-masks-at-the-beginning-of-the-pandemic/ar-BB16P84e

Muanya, C. (2020, August 26). Chloroquine potent for COVID-19 prevention , says NAFDAC. Retrieved from https://guardian.ng/news/chloroquine-potent-for-covid-19-prevention-says-nafdac/

Nebehay, S. (2020, February 3). WHO chief says widespread travel bans not needed to beat China virus. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-who-idUSKBN1ZX1H3

Nwachukwu, J. O. (2020, December 26). Bill Gates wonders why number of COVID-19 cases, deaths are not high in Africa. Retrieved from https://dailypost.ng/2020/12/26/bill-gates-wonders-why-number-of-covid-19-cases-deaths-are-not-high-in-africa/

O’Leary, F. (2020, September 5). Kamala Harris says don’t trust Covid vaccine pushed by Trump before election. Retrieved from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12592999/kamala-harris-covid-vaccine-trump-election/

Ollstein, A. M. (2020, February 4). Coronavirus quarantine, travel ban could backfire, experts fear. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/04/coronavirus-quaratine-travel-110750

PBS. (2020, April 3). What Dr. Fauci wants you to know about face masks and staying home as virus spreads. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-dr-fauci-wants-you-to-know-about-face-masks-and-staying-home-as-virus-spreads

Peek, L. (2020, December 22). Twitter and Facebook to censor vaccine discourse — this must stop. Retrieved from https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/531091-twitter-and-facebook-to-censor-vaccine-discourse-this-must-stop

Perlman, S. (2020). Another Decade, Another Coronavirus. New England Journal Of Medicine, 382(8), 760-762. doi: 10.1056/nejme2001126

Peter Navarro: Patient zero was in Wuhan mid-November. (2020, May 10). Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/peter-navarro-patient-zero-was-in-wuhan-mid-november

Qaseem, A., Etxeandia-Ikobaltzeta, I., Yost, J., Miller, M., Abraham, G., & Obley, A. et al. (2020). Use of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks to Prevent COVID-19 in Health Care and Community Settings: Living Practice Points From the American College of Physicians (Version 1). Annals Of Internal Medicine, 173(8), 642-649. doi: 10.7326/m20-3234

Quinn, P., Markey, B., Leonard, F., Hartigan, P., Fanning, S., & FitzPatrick, E. (2013). Veterinary Microbiology and Microbial Disease (p. 700). Hoboken: Wiley.

Rakedzon, S., Khoury, Y., Rozenberg, G., & Neuberger, A. (2020). Hydroxychloroquine and Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review of a Scientific Failure. Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, 11(3), e0025. doi: 10.5041/rmmj.10416

Re, G. (2020, April 2). After attacking Trump’s coronavirus-related China travel ban as xenophobic, Dems and media have changed tune. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-media-change-tune-trump-attacks-coronavirus-china-travel-ban

Redish, A., Kummerfeld, E., Morris, R., & Love, A. (2018). Opinion: Reproducibility failures are essential to scientific inquiry. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 115(20), 5042-5046. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1806370115

Ruiz-Irastorza, G., & Khamashta, M. (2008). Hydroxychloroquine: the cornerstone of lupus therapy. Lupus, 17(4), 271-273. doi: 10.1177/0961203307086643

Sarkis, S. (2020, April 23). trump-touts-treatments-for-covid-19-without-evidence. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2020/04/23/trump-touts-treatments-for-covid-19-without-evidence/?sh=10316a6c3549

Siddell, S. (1995). The coronaviridae. New York: Plenum.

Siddell, S. (1995). The coronaviridae. New York: Plenum.

Smith, O. (2020, May 24). China cover-up bombshell: Secretive Wuhan lab discloses experiments on coronavirus strains. Retrieved from https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1286525/China-cover-up-Wuhan-virus-lab-coronavirus-origin-COVID-19-conspiracy-claim-latest

Sun, H., Ning, R., Tao, Y., Yu, C., Deng, X., & Zhao, C. et al. (2020). Risk Factors for Mortality in 244 Older Adults With COVID ‐19 in Wuhan, China: A Retrospective Study. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 68(6). doi: 10.1111/jgs.16533

Tate, C., & Gibertson, D. (2020, January 28). United becomes first US airline to cancel some China flights amid coronavirus travel warnings. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2020/01/28/coronavirus-united-cancels-china-flights-amid-outbreak-travel-alerts/4598279002/

Te Velthuis, A., van den Worm, S., Sims, A., Baric, R., Snijder, E., & van Hemert, M. (2010). Zn2+ Inhibits Coronavirus and Arterivirus RNA Polymerase Activity In Vitro and Zinc Ionophores Block the Replication of These Viruses in Cell Culture. Plos Pathogens, 6(11), e1001176. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1001176

The Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com. (2020, April 4). Thanks for nothing: U.S. scientists say China hampering search for virus origin. Retrieved from https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/4/us-scientists-say-china-hampers-search-origin-dead/

Thurbun, D. (2020, February 11). WHO names deadly virus from China as ‘COVID-19’. Retrieved from https://news.yahoo.com/names-deadly-virus-china-covid-19-163930937.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC3fYRMXQ_4mPXzVa_Q-9kbG60Z1sPhWK68NqNk9mmUocr78iwHC364ljl3NAHbIm8ps3GI0TWgf6NwUJcGyYQPNfJBaBLxcfW_KPzZNNkUU2FJcZW5knWh9f_bfnzLrJQnYVDfkGZ8Ttaxk4gDA2o0fVVdwdtpGjE4CPL5S85p2

Trilla, A., Trilla, G., & Daer, C. (2008). The 1918 “Spanish Flu” in Spain. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 47(5), 668-673. doi: 10.1086/590567

USATODAY. (2020, July 30). ‘America’s frontline doctors’ may be real doctors, but experts say they don’t know what they’re talking about. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/30/americas-frontline-doctors-tout-hydroxychloroquine-covid-who-they/5535096002/

USATODAY. (2020, November 18). Fauci says the average American could get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as April: ‘I would take the vaccine’. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/18/fauci-covid-vaccine-may-available-april-says-he-would-take/3764262001/

Vincent, M., Bergeron, E., Benjannet, S., Erickson, B., Rollin, P., & Ksiazek, T. et al. (2005). Virology Journal, 2(1), 69. doi: 10.1186/1743-422x-2-69

Webmd. (2020, July 21). Facebook removes anti-maskers for misinformation. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200721/facebook-removes-anti-maskers-for-misinformation

Webmd. (2020, March 24). Man dies after taking chloroquine for coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200324/man-dies-after-taking-chloroquine-for-coronavirus

Wen, J., Aston, J., Liu, X., & Ying, T. (2020). Effects of misleading media coverage on public health crisis: a case of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China. Anatolia, 31(2), 331-336. doi: 10.1080/13032917.2020.1730621

Worldometers.info. (2020, December 31). Madagascar coronavirus: 17,714 cases and 261 deaths. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/madagascar/

Xue, J., Moyer, A., Peng, B., Wu, J., Hannafon, B., & Ding, W. (2014). Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore. Plos ONE, 9(10), e109180. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109180