The latest census by Santé Publique France counted more than 2 million long haulers (out of +68 M inhab.). The virus has also caused more than 180,000 direct deaths (excluding delayed effects) & continues to disable & kill. We are facing a societal phenomenon that requires rigor & respect for those affected.
1. Do not talk about COVID in the past tense, as if it were no longer I circulating or causing damage, when it is still causing Long COVID, delayed deaths, reinfections, and direct deaths.
2. Do not describe Long COVID as a “mystery,” as its mechanisms (viral persistence, dysimmunity, thromboinflammation) are now known. Nor should the disease be disconnected from the virus that causes it.
3. Do not focus on the individual, depoliticizing aspects of the disease, when patients are organizing collectively and have demands to voice.
4. Do not invite the most controversial doctors, who psychologize and/or present rehabilitation as a treatment for patients, and/or reinforce the feeling that the illness is not physical.
5. Do not dismiss prevention measures while the virus continues to cause new cases of Long COVID (the risk increases with each infection) and to worsen and endanger all chronically ill patients.
6. Do not reduce the disease to a few symptoms without explaining its mechanisms, which have a wide range of manifestations.
7. Do not dismiss its potential life-threatening risks or potential for deterioration.
8. Do not use any figure you find without sourcing the claim. In France, some media outlets have wrongly reported that 200,000 people are suffering from Long COVID: the latest census counted more than 2 million.
9. Do not present false prevention information: transmission does not occur through droplet or contact, but through aerosols.
10. Do not forget that children and the elderly are also affected by Long COVID. Avoid involving doctors instead of patients and researchers.
11. Do not blame lockdown for the current health situation without taking into account the consequences of multiple COVID reinfections.
12. Do not claim that patients miraculously recover over time when Long COVID is a chronic disease for which there is still no cure.
#CovidIsNotOver
https://winslow.fr/guide-journalistique-le-traitement-mediatique-du-covid/
