News Agencies Must Paint a Complete Picture of Coronavirus

Credit: UN News/Li ZhangBy Ifeanyi NsoforABUJA, Mar 9 2020 (IPS) Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “We have an epidemic caused by Coronavirus, but we have a pandemic caused by fear “. This fear is worsened by how news agencies report the outbreak. These are some examples. “Bodies ‘pile up’ in morgue as Iran feels strain of coronavirus” – CNN “First UK death from coronavirus confirmed as cases surge to 115” – The Guardian UK “Coronavirus: Global death toll exceeds 3,000” – Premium Times Nigeria “Death toll from coronavirus in Italy rises to 148: Live updates” – Aljazeera “Coronavirus update, map as death toll reaches 3,200. Infections soar in Italy, Iran and South Korea” – Newsweek News outlets are often quick to report the number of infected and deaths due to Coronavirus. However, they do not highlight as prominently the number of Coronavirus survivors. Yet, there are many survivors. Reporting the complete picture of the outbreak gives hope and builds confidence in people that being infected is not a death sentence. In contrast, continuing the negative reporting of COVID-19 increases hysteria, fear and panic associated with the outbreak There are currently 110,624 reported cases; 62,397 have recovered, 44,396 are currently infected, with 3,831 deaths. herefore, there are 16 times as many people who have survived Coronavirus as those who have died from it. A breakdown of Coronavirus survivors in s...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Featured Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Coronavirus Source Type: news