Gogi Kamushadze
The Infodemic: A global race for a fake cure; On the margins of Covid-19: how the pandemic affecting lives of Europe’s Roma
Welcome back! We're tracking the global spread of coronavirus disinformation, and what is being done to combat it. Let's dive in.
A global race for a fake cure
While scientists around the world are racing to come up with a vaccine, it looks like there is a parallel competition for fake cures:
- In Tanzania, President John Magufuli has dismissed imported coronavirus testing kits as faulty, saying they returned positive results on samples taken from a goat and a pawpaw. The president, who has previously asked Tanzanians to pray the coronavirus away, instead placed an order for herbal treatment for the coronavirus from Madagascar.
- Madagascar, is in fact doing quite well with its Covid-Organics, the herbal treatment touted as a cure by the country’s president, Andry Rajoelina. In the previous Infodemic, we reported that Madagascar managed to sell it to Guinea Bissau. Next in line for shipments, along with Tanzania, are Equatorial Guinea and Senegal.
- Meanwhile in China, the country’s top Covid-19 expert Zhong Nanshan (China’s equivalent of Dr. Fauci) says there is enough evidence to prove that the Chinese traditional remedy Lianhua Qingwen works in treating Covid-19 patients. Chinese embassies around the world are now including the herbal treatment in aid bags they are sending to Chinese students overseas.
- In Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, has been spotted wearing an Air Doctor card, which its manufacturer claims sanitizes the air around the wearer and kills pathogens. It has also been endorsed by Bassil’s rival, the leader of Amal Movement, Nabih Berri. It is rare to see Lebanon’s competing power blocs agreeing on something, but pseudoscience seems to have done the trick.
ON THE MARGINS
- In Kuwait police fired tear gas at stranded and now unemployed Egyptian workers who are unable to return home amid the pandemic.
- In Bangladesh authorities have quarantined 29 Rohingya refugees without any access to aid on Bhasan Char island in the Bay of Bengal in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
These are just two examples of hundreds of eruptions of abuse and violence happening all around the world. The victims, as always, are those who were on the margins before the crisis began.
Coda’s Katia Patin has been looking into how Covid-19 is fueling old hatreds inside the European Union. Keep reading!