Coronavirus update, 21/3 - that 'Asian raiding party' video is fake
Fake news, the curve isn't flattening yet, and people at Bondi need to go home
We’re back, this is #3 of ‘5+5: coronavirus edition’.
Each day I’m bringing you 5 big things to know, and 5 other bits, about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. I’ll be calling out misinformation and dodgy claims; sharing good news and bad news; giving you resources to do your own fact-checks, to not fall for shit, and keep abreast of the latest info — because who honestly has time to consume every bit of the fire hose of news that’s being blasted out every day?
You can email me at joshb2@protonmail.com or find me on Twitter at @joshbutler if you have tips, feedback, ideas or just wanna chat. If I’ve made a mistake, shared something I shouldn’t have, or done something wrong, please tell me. I’ll be here.
Wash your hands and sneeze into your elbow. Practise physical distancing - 1.5 metres. “Stay the fuck at home”.
5 BIG THINGS
Today’s statistics:
As of 12.13pm Sydney time on 21/3, the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering reported there have been 274,180 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. There have been 11,375 deaths.
In Australia, where I’m coming to you from - normally I’ll direct you to the the federal Department of Health’s numbers each day — but as I’m writing, health minister Greg Hunt has confirmed 874 cases in Australia today. As of 6.30am yesterday, the Department’s last numbers update, there were 709 cases, so that’s a jump of 165 between stats releases.
Hunt says Australia has done more than 115,000 tests (quick maths: 0.76% of tests are positive), at one of the highest testing rates in the world.
That ‘Organized Asian raiding party in Australian supermarket’ video is misinformation
It was only a matter of time before Australia’s right-wing social media fever swamp tried to take advantage of this crisis. You may have seen a video going around on Facebook titled “RAW FOOTAGE: Organized Asian raiding party in Australian supermarket”. Uploaded to Youtube two days ago by a user named ‘AusNatGoy’ (‘goy’ being a term for a non-Jew, and a term used by some far-right groups in the U.S.), it’s got more than 133,000 views.
It shows a group of people of Asian appearance scanning tins of baby formula through self-serve checkouts (I won’t link to it). Coming at a time of shelves at Coles and Woolies being stripped by panic-buyers, and claims (still with almost zero evidence) of “foreign gangs” of city folk taking buses to regional areas to buy up big (seriously, if you think you know about this, tell me), the video appears to be coronavirus-fuelled.
It’s not.
Despite being shared by dozens of conservative (and sometimes plain ugly racist) groups on Facebook named things like ‘BEWARE OF THE CHINESE TAKEOVER OF AUSTRALIA’ or ‘Wake Up Aussies & Stay Safe’ or with the word ‘patriot’ in their title… the video is not current. It’s at least several months old — the first version I can find online is from December 2019. It’s done the rounds before during the last round of media supermarket frenzy, over baby formula shortages. I’ve seen it before and you probably have too.
Even the person who posted the video admits it, writing (a day after uploading the clip) “this is old footage presented as an example of past and ongoing behavior” in a message pinned to the top of the comments.
Has that stopped the Facebook pages thinking it’s new though? Not on your life! One prominent page writing “In a State Of Emergency, looters like this are usually criminally convicted. Why no convictions?” As I’m writing in each of these newsletters — check your facts on social media. Don’t spread shit.
“Stay the fuck at home”
Those ^^ are the words of a respected doctor I spoke to this week, about social distancing (or ‘physical distancing’ in the new WHO vernacular) and what people should do to not spread the virus. That was their simple mantra — don’t go out for a while; but if you have to, stay very far apart (their suggestion was something like going for a bushwalk with a friend and staying five metres apart).
I guess people at Bondi didn’t get the message.
It should go without saying — this is not recommended. This is not the 1.5 metre separation. “It doesn't matter where you are. Whether you are on Bondi or in a church, separate by 1.5metres,” NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said. Greg Hunt called it “unacceptable”, saying “the local council must take steps to stop that occurring.” Sydney media outlets are reporting the beach may soon be closed.
No, we’re not in lockdown yet, but you’re meant to stay separated. Officials have been saying this in press conferences for a while now (more on that here and below), which is good, but the message isn’t filtering to ordinary folk.
Perhaps this is because the government, while saying it in pressers, isn’t telling it direct to the people — of the 16 resources in the health department’s new coronavirus ad campaign, just ONE mentions the 1.5 metre rule specifically, and ‘social distancing’ barely features. Please, heed the words of this doctor — someone I would actually trust with my life (and who many people will literally be trusting theirs with soon): “stay the fuck at home”.
The curve isn’t flattening yet
The good news: the government’s strict new mitigation measures might take up to two weeks to filter through to the number of cases, so the fact we’re not seeing a flattening yet isn’t surprising. But right now, the number of cases is doubling every four days, according to Our World In Data (an unofficial resource, but one which Aussie doctors are looking at). Case load doubling in four days is on par with Spain and France right now, which currently have huge lockdowns and social measures; it’s not as bad as the United States (doubling in two days). In the grand scheme, four days is better than many countries — but it’s not ideal. See above point — stay the fuck home. Flatten the curve.
New social distancing — one handball square per person
As above, the government is pushing social distancing in press conferences and regulations (if, at least not yet, not really in ad campaigns). A new rule — one person allowed per four square metres of space in an indoor venue. That means a 100sqm venue can only admit 25 people. Four square metres, you’ll be excited to know, is about the size of a school handball square. More on that here.
5 OTHER THINGS:
Not convinced of the effects of this virus? Watch this news report from the Italian city of Bergamo, one of the worst-hit in the country
What endgame do we want? What are we prepared to temporarily sacrifice in the name of stopping as many deaths as possible? This piece from Grattan Institute CEO John Daley is mandatory reading today, laying out 3 options.
The government wants Netflix, Stan and more to support Aussies stuck at home in self-isolation or quarantine — with calls for them to “consider reducing the amount of data required for streaming videos” so the internet isn’t overloaded. Full story on The Guardian.
I’ll leave you with two less-bleak ones: Aussie musicians are hosting a virtual music festival on Instagram this weekend, with around 80 artists live-streaming short sets across Saturday and Sunday under the. ‘Isol-Aid’ banner (get it?). It’s hoped to aid those caught in the overnight shutdown of Australia’s music industry (which I wrote about here), to raise money for the musicians and also mental health charity Support Act. Find more here.
The second: watch the will to live leave the body of Dr Anthony Fauci (director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) as he stood on stage with Donald Trump today, as he make a joke that he calls the State Department the ‘deep state department’. A fun close-up is here.
IMPORTANT EVERY DAY:
be hygienic; wash your hands properly, for at least 30 seconds, multiple times a day (here’s how you need to do it, plus a handy Dr Karl video tutorial); sneeze and cough into your elbows; use hand sanitiser
Listen to only official information from the World Health Organisation and legitimate health bodies
World Health Organisation latest statistics here
Australian government latest statistics here
Don’t share dodgy stuff on Facebook. If it looks too good (or bad) to be true, it often is. Verify, fact-check, don’t be part of the misinformation problem
Signing off - stay safe, be healthy, look after yourself and others
Josh