WHO Deletes Misleading Tweet That Spread Paranoia About COVID-19 Reinfection

This weekend the World Health Organization (WHO) had to delete a misleading tweet about the coronavirus. Unfortunately, several media outlets had already cited it, spreading unwarranted fear about the likelihood of secondary COVID-19 infections.

Indeed, Bloomberg News reported this story with the headline "WHO Warns You May Catch Coronavirus More Than Once." Here's how the article started:

Catching Covid-19 once may not protect you from getting it again, according to the World Health Organization, a finding that could jeopardize efforts to allow people to return to work after recovering from the virus.

That's just wrong. There is no "finding" to speak of here, just an absence of definitive proof that antibodies confer a degree of immunity. Many readers undoubtedly would come away from these statements with a level of anxiety—You can get it again! We're doomed!—that isn't merited.

From parroting the Chinese communist government's lies about COVID-19 to wrongly warning people against wearing masks, the WHO has badly mishandled its communications about the pandemic. The organization really needs to get its act together.


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