A couple of weeks back, when news of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) was picking up steam, I created a Twitter list of virus-related scientific professionals (epidemiologists etc.) to follow.
Over time I eliminated anyone who tweeted something about Trump (pro or con), the rich receiving better healthcare, COVID-19 and the plight of the poor, etc.
I just wanted scientific analysis about the virus.
Two weeks ago there were quite a few that stuck to analysis but, over time, it has just deteriorated and I see much more commentary about government policy rather than medical science.
My list has become useless for the latest scientific thinking about the virus.
I have no idea what percentage of the population is infected with the virus but it sure appears that policy posing has destroyed 99% of scientific commentary on Twitter about the virus---this includes posing by many top-flight credentialed researchers who spend time commenting on Twitter.
The only COVID-19 related commenter I am following on Twitter now is @HelenBranswell, senior writer on infectious diseases for @statnews.
She will go off tack occasionally but she also will tweet out the latest data and thinking on the virus on a more consistent basis than anyone else. And it appears she is doing close to an all-encompassing reporting job via her Twitter feed.
@jeremyfaust is also very good, especially when it comes to popping some myths, but the most news and data come from Branswell.
Here is a Faust tweet to give you a good sense of what he puts out:
Here is a sample of some of the data Branswell tweets out:
-RW
For many reasons it sucks to live in a big city, pandemics being pretty high on the list.
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