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It's been now slightly over two months that I decided to dedicate some of my time to inform the public on #COVID19 and try to fight disinformation. It feels like a Sisyphean task at times as the nonsense is coming so hard and fast from all sides.
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The blatant untruths are easy to counter. What I hadn't anticipated and I struggle with is 'scientific populism'. This is largely fuelled by a few academics with no prior experience in infectious disease epidemiology, who have established themselves as COVID19 'experts'.
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The typical manifestation of #COVID19 scientific populism is a mix of sloganeering, foolish optimism, a can-do attitude, complete disregard for facts, a dose of righteousness and a propensity to blame anyone who doesn't buy in the latest in vogue delusion.
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I worry scientific populism is nearly as damaging to our ability to deal with #COVID19 than ‘severity denialism’. It will also fuel further anger and resentment in society when the empty promises will die. Then, I don't know how to fight this form of disinformation.
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