Beware of misinformation during pandemic, Morrison warns

Misinformation about COVID-19 is circulating on P.E.I., says Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison.

Morrison issued the warning during her regular weekly briefing on the pandemic Tuesday.

She said she is aware there is a lot of information available to people about the pandemic, and acknowledged it can be overwhelming, but she said people need to take the time to consider the source of what they are reading and whether it can be trusted.

"Misinformation about COVID-19 is circulating in our province on many platforms including social media," said Morrison.

"While technology and social media are being used on a large scale to keep people informed, safe and connected, the false information may jeopardize measures to control the pandemic."

As an example, Morrison mentioned there was information circulating that suggests the pandemic is similar in impact to seasonal influenza epidemics.

"While influenza and COVID-19 have some similarities, the risks associated with the new coronavirus are higher," she said.

Symptoms can be similarand the two are also spread in a similar fashion but COVID-19 is generally more contagious, she said.

Morrison noted COVID-19 has been more dangerous than a typical year of seasonal flu in Canada.

• Flu: 40,000 cases, 3,500 deaths.
• COVID-19: 200,000 cases, 10,000 deaths.

"The proportion of severe and critical illness related to COVID-19 is higher than we would see for influenza infections," said Morrison.

"While these two illnesses do share some common characteristics, clearly the risk of developing a serious illness and dying is higher with COVID-19."

Morrison added people can protect themselves from the flu by getting a vaccine, but there is no vaccine available for COVID-19. She again encouraged Islanders to get a flu vaccine.

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