Although Google can be a great place to find important information, it can just as easily give you the wrong information. On top of battling a worldwide pandemic, doctors are now facing new problems: people who believe false information they see on the internet. Doctors had faced people believing false rumors they had seen on social media before, but never at the rate it is now. Leaders like President Trump have spread false theories about the virus, and platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have not been diligent in eliminating false information on the web.
According to researchers, at least 800 people died and thousands more were hospitalized in the first three months of the year, for believing the claim that drinking highly concentrated alcohol would kill the virus in the body. Patients often refuse to believe what healthcare professionals have to say, due to the fact that they believe all the rumors and conspiracy theories they read online. This has caused many patients to believe that masks will not stop the spread of coronavirus and that the whole virus is not as serious as people make it out to be.
According to doctors, they have argued with patients who demand prescriptions of hydroxychloroquine, an unproven drug that President Trump has taken and believes will help stop the virus. There are also people who go to hospitals to ask for a doctor's note to not wear a mask, for fear that it will deplete their oxygen levels, which is also untrue. Many other patients believe that COVID-19 is fake, and that doctors are intentionally giving it to patients in order to deport immigrants or take their blood and leave them to die.
Social Media Removes Viral Video of False Coronavirus Claims