A video made by a Tennessee nurse has gone viral that reminds us in a humorous way to not allow stress to overtake our kindness. It’s what Elijah Schaeffer of the Next News Network says is “just the perfect comic relief needed during these stressful times.”
Misinformation is flooding the internet, creating many humorous and sometimes deadly “facts” that are anything but true. Anne Backhaus writing for Spiegel International tells how deadly fake news creating an “infodemic” that could have disastrous consequences.
A friend in Ghana sent Backhaus, who lives in Germany, eight pictures with messages attached via WhatsApp. One such message, stamped with the initials UNICEF promised: “If the virus is exposed to a temperature of 26-27? C. it will be killed, as it does not live in hot regions.”
The rest of the message adds that UNICEF also advises “staying away from ice cream and cold food.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), when taken for fact, such memes are “dangerously inaccurate.” Sandra Bisin, a spokeswoman for UNICEF in West and Central Africa, adds, “It is consuming a lot of time here to combat such fake reports. The digital world is helping us massively to quickly reach many people. But at the same time, precisely that is dangerous because it gives others the ability to spread panic in the social networks.”
Watch the viral video below as this nurse retells a funny story she watched unfold at her local grocery store between a clerk and a patron in line in front of her. It’s a great reminder for everyone about misinformation and how NOT to act in these stressful times.
