Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb was on CNBC this morning warning that if “we continue to be very prescriptive and not give people a realistic vision for a better future, they’re going to start to ignore the public health guidance”:
"If we continue to be very prescriptive and not give people a realistic vision for a better future, they're going to start to ignore the public health guidance," @ScottGottliebMD says. The government has to walk a fine line here, he adds. https://t.co/12YTOYcnbr pic.twitter.com/jX0FTL8z6m
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 4, 2021
It’s a little later for this, no? We still have scolds in the media warning about superspreader events and then never correcting their reporting when those superspreader events do not occur.
Marky Katharine Ham writes, “The moral panic in media coverage over *possible* spreader events rarely reflects the actual viral trend. The record is rarely corrected. Give people info, not freakouts. That corny Grim Reaper guy on a beach is not a data point”:
There is a lesson. The moral panic in media coverage over *possible* spreader events rarely reflects the actual viral trend. The record is rarely corrected. Give people info, not freakouts. That corny Grim Reaper guy on a beach is not a data point.https://t.co/6K1Yb4WHz7
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 4, 2021
The Superbowl? Nope. The Ozarks? Nope. The UNC celebration? Nope. The Missouri hair salon? Nope.
I should say, the record is rarely corrected in as prominent a fashion as the freakout. The result is about the same, as people don’t hear the news there was no super-spreader. Think Ozarks pool party— not a super spreader. Franklin St./UNC celebration— nope. MO salon— no spread.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 4, 2021
Recommended
And do read this piece in The Atlantic on just how safe outdoor events are:
Particularly coverage of outdoor events should cause some reflection. I HIGHLY recommend this entire @TheAtlantic piece, but this is the relevant part on outdoor events. Media coverage gives the opposite impression, that most outdoor events are horrors!https://t.co/Y8kIe3ALzG pic.twitter.com/1bnUmWIINT
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 4, 2021
Money quote: “I’ve been tracking every report I can find for the past year, and have yet to find a confirmed super-spreading event that occurred solely outdoors”:
"I’ve been tracking every report I can find for the past year, and have yet to find a confirmed super-spreading event that occurred solely outdoors."https://t.co/DUomesdkwH
— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) February 28, 2021
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member