So many examples of how twitter rewards, and amplifies extreme positions, which is unhelpful in nuanced debate

Masks are ESSENTIAL to stop the pandemic
Masks are useless and HARMFUL

Masks could help, would be useful to study their impact and any potential drawbacks

1/6

This disease is AIRBORNE why are we denying it?
I can't get COVID-19 unless you SNEEZE in my mouth

There is a continuum and airborne transmission seems to occur, but much less frequently than droplet

2/6

Children are disease AMPLIFIERS, close schools
Children CANNOT spread this disease, open schools

Children seem to transmit less readily than adults, but given high community infection rates opening schools might be difficult, but possible at low rates with IPC

3/6

Placebo RCTs are UNETHICAL in a pandemic, we must treat now
I'm not treating until I've seen a full, peer reviewed publication

A press release by a non-conflicted party showing a huge effect size of a cheap, safe medicine should be enough to start treating

4/6

COVID-19 is the end of the world we're all going to DIE
COVID-19 is just the FLU

COVID-19 is a global crisis for health and the economy, we must try to act based on reason and empathy not fear mongering or denial

5/6

Try and state a nuanced version of any of the above, and someone will tell you that you actually have a much more polarised opinion, and will start arguing with that opinion, instead of what you actually believe

I love twitter, but this is tiresome

6/6