9. Kenji Mizumoto and Gerardo Chowell, "Estimating Risk
of Death from 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease, China,
January–February 2020," Emerging Infectious Diseases
26, no. 6 (June 2020), preprint accessed March 22,
2020, https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2606.200233.
10. Timothy W. Russell et al., "Using a Delay-Adjusted
Case-Fatality Ratio to Estimate Under-Reporting,"
CMMID Repository, March 2020, https://cmmid.github.
io/topics/covid19/severity/global_cfr_estimates.html.
11. Joseph Eisenberg, "RO: How Scientists Quantify the
Intensity of an Outbreak Like Coronavirus and Predict
the Pandemic's Spread," The Conversation, March
2020, www.theconversation.com/r0-how-scientists-
quantify-the-intensity-of-an-outbreak-like-coronavirus-
and-predict-the-pandemics-spread-130777.
12. Robert Koch Institute, "Coronavirus Disease 2019:
Daily Situation Report of the Robert Koch Institute,"
March 2020, www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/
Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Situationsberichte/2020-
03-24-en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile.
13. Arthur C. Macedo, Andre O. V. de Faria, and Pietro
Ghezzi, "Boosting the Immune System, From Science to
Myth: Analysis of the Infosphere with Google," Frontiers
in Medicine, July 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/
fmed.2019.00165; Beverly Merz, "What Can You Do
to Improve Your Immune System?," Harvard Health
Publishing, September 2016, www.health.harvard.
edu/healthy-eating/what-can-you-do-to-improve-
your-immune-system; National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, "Overview of the Immune System,"
Immune System Research, December 2013, www.
niaid.nih.gov/research/immune-system-overview.
14. Paul G. Auwaerter, "Coronavirus COVID-19
(SARS-CoV-2)," in Johns Hopkins ABX Guide.
15. Irani Thevarajan et al., "Breadth of Concomitant
Immune Responses Prior to Patient Recovery: A Case
Report of Non-Severe COVID-19," Nature Medicine,
March 2020, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-
0819-2; Puja Mehta et al., "COVID-19: Consider
Cytokine Storm Syndromes and Immunosuppression,"
The Lancet 395, no. 10229 (March 2020): 1033–34,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30628-0. Note
that both sources are in the form of peer-reviewed
correspondence reflecting the ongoing developments
and uncertainty within the medical community.
16. Mary Van Beusekom, "Study: COVID-19 May Spread
in Several Different Ways," CIDRAP News, March 2020,
www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/
study-covid-19-may-spread-several-different-ways.
17. Wenling Wang et al., "Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in
Different Types of Clinical Specimens," JAMA, March
2020, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.3786;
By developing rational responses,
understanding the need to link these to
localized narratives so that they can be
better understood, finding ways to explain
them to others, and strengthening our own
resilience, we ensure our survival, both
physical and mental. This may be the most
valuable tool for healing when the time
comes to emerge from self-isolation and
return to healing our communities.
Notes
1. World Health Organization, "Policy Statement on
Data Sharing by the World Health Organization in the
Context of Public Health Emergencies," World Health
Organization Procedures, April 2016, https://www.
who.int/ihr/procedures/SPG_data_sharing.pdf.
2. Max Roser, Hannah Ritchie, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina,
"Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)—Statistics and
Research," 2020, www.ourworldindata.org/coronavirus.
3. Jon D. Lee, An Epidemic of Rumors: How Stories
Shape our Perceptions of Disease (Boulder:
Utah State University Press, 2014), 2–3.
4. Michael Shermer, "Patternicity: Finding Meaningful
Patterns in Meaningless Noise," Scientific
American 299, no. 6 (Dec 2008): 48, https://
doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1208-48.
5. Kevin R. Foster and Hanna Kokko, "The Evolution
of Superstitious and Superstition-Like Behavior,"
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276, no. 1654
(September 2008): 31–37, https://doi.org/10.1098/
rspb.2008.0981; Sophie Fyfe et al., "Apophenia,
Theory of Mind, and Schizotypy: Perceiving Meaning
and Intentionality in Randomness," Cortex 44,
no. 10 (November–December 2008): 1316–25,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2007.07.009.
6. Andrea Kitta, The Kiss of Death: Contagion,
Contamination, and Folklore (Louisville, CO:
Utah State University Press, 2019), 5–7.
7. World Health Organization, Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report—46 (Geneva:
WHO, 2020), www.who.int/docs/default-source/
coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200306-
sitrep-46-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=96b04adf_2.
8. Paul G. Auwaerter, "Coronavirus COVID-19
(SARS-CoV-2)," in Johns Hopkins ABX Guide,
The Johns Hopkins University (March 2020),
www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/
Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540747/all/
Coronavirus_COVID_19__SARS_CoV_2_.
rather than feature articles may be
reassured that letters are fully peer-
reviewed by the journal's reviewers and
editors, forming a clear-cut category
within that journal's editorial policy.
36
In short, not only is there no evidence
to support the claim that COVID-19 is a
manufactured virus, there appears to be
evidence that in fact proves it is definitely
natural. The sources provided go into
some detail to explain and cross-check the
possibilities and there seems to be no reason
to believe otherwise.
WHAT NEXT?
As shown in the examples above, it is
very easy to jump to conclusions, make
assumptions based more on our own fears
than on reality, and to make connections for
which there is simply no evidence. Ideally,
you should not take my word for this.
Compare the sources against the
checklist provided earlier, and use your
own judgment—but attempt to avoid
reading more or less into the material
than is present. It is crucial to realize that
precisely because this virus is new, there
are still many unknowns. "No evidence"
or "incomplete evidence" is not the same as
"negative evidence." Unknowns are areas
that need research and clarification—fewer
words, not more.
At the beginning, I explained why it
is almost impossible for human nature
to accept holes in such life-changing
narratives, but this may well be a valuable
lesson for many communities, particularly
those with healing as a vocation. The best
we can do to shape those narratives into
something that helps, rather than hindering
the efforts being made by physicians,
researchers, and the general public, is focus
on developing rational coping mechanisms.
It can help to understand how "noise" and
subconscious patternicity hinder us from
doing so, and the links in the Notes below
provide many places to start.
F o r t h e l a t e s t i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t w w w. a b m p . c o m / c o v i d - u p d a t e s . 23
SPECIAL ISSUE
