CMO: Don't listen to covid19 misinformation

CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram cautioned the public against falling prey to misinformation about covid19.

At the virtual health news conference on Wednesday, Parasram said people need to carefully scrutinise the sources from which they get their information about covid19.

He identified hearsay, social media, newspaper articles, news conferences and WhatsApp as some of the sources from which this misinformation could come.

Parasram said people should take information from reputable sources such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) as credible, as this information is checked by these organisation's technical staff.

Parsaram said people should "read beyond the headlines" and examine the information in whatever article they read to find out if it is correct. He explained that in some cases, the data may be two to three years old, and not recent as alleged in the reports in question.

He also suggested people examine the authors of these articles and determine if they have the professional criteria to speak authoritatively on the subject they write about.