Reliable Information

I want to share with you what I judge to be the single most useful article on COVID-19, “A new self-triage tool can help you decide if you need medical care for Covid-19.” And in general, I recommend https://www.statnews.com/tag/coronavirus/ as the best source of information regarding the virus and efforts made to fight it.  This article reviewing Stat News shortly after its launch describes some of its strengths as a news organization focused on health and medicine.

A lot of misleading information regarding the virus is floating around.  Even the best sources are limited by the lack of more robust information due to the novelty of the virus.   Reading Facebook feeds, political websites, and stories by large media organizations is likely to leave you confused.  Their treatment of topics is often superficial and driven by political or other extrinsic agendas.  For example, last week the President touted the potential of anti-malaria drugs while his medical experts were much more cautious.  The coverage I read initially seemed to be more about the President than about the issue of just how promising, if at all, the use of anti-malaria drugs might be.  This article from Stat gives an excellent explanation of the apparently contradictory assessments of the drugs and the more fundamental issues underlying the discrepancy. 

A big disclaimer:  I have no special competence when it comes to medicine.  But my background as a lawyer helps me to analyze information and ask probing questions about what I read.  Many of you have remarked that you appreciate how those abilities are reflected in my teaching and preaching. 

Sometimes we obsess too much about things beyond our control.  It’s one thing to be informed, it’s another to let our thoughts and worries focus on things over which we have very limited influence.  I found myself doing this with the new wave of clergy abuse stories that started in the summer of 2018.  We should spend some time being informed, as this informs our prayers and as we should discern what ways we can contribute to solving larger problems.  But more of our attention should be closer to home:  first, to my own words and actions and virtue growth, then to the responsibilities I have been given to family, work, and the other little communities to which I belong.