Here are some facts on common misinformation on Covid-19.

One month after Delta becoming the dominant strain in the United States, the summer surge is underway. We are experiencing exponential growth and at this rate are estimated to reach our Winter peak in a month’s time under current conditions. The regional hotspots are growing larger and every state in the country is increasing in cases.

As of June 22, the latest genomic sequencing data shows the Delta variant (B.1.617.2, first identified in India) has become the dominant strain in the United States. Nationally, cases have plateaued and we are seeing localized increases in certain states that had reached dominance earlier and surges within many of their counties. These surges are largely happening in counties with low vaccination rates with the overwhelming amount of cases and hospitalizations happening amongst those who are unvaccinated which further supports the mounting evidence that being fully vaccinated offers high levels of protection against the Delta variant…

In Episode 15: Vial and Sword, our host Josh Farden speaks with Jeremy Rossman, Ph.D for the second time. This time, they discuss the complicated rollout of vaccines globally. Dr. Rossman is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Virology at the University of Kent and the President of Research-Aid Networks.

In Episode 14: Sand Against the Wind, our host Josh Farden speaks with Yuri Deigin, CEO of Youthereum Genetics and author of the 16,000-word essay, “Lab-Made? SARS-CoV-2 Genealogy Through the Lens of Gain-of-Function Research.” Deigin has raised many questions over the past year regarding the origins of COVID that brought on a lot of skepticism. In recent months, however, his theories are gaining traction.

As a coalition of scientists, public health officials, epidemiologists, health care workers, educators, community advocates, parents, and concerned citizens, we are asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to amend mask guidance in the following ways.

In Episode 13: Masking the Issue, our host Josh Farden speaks with Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, founder of Patient Knowhow. Srikrishna is an advocate of developing a scalable system that will stop the spread of the virus. In helping stop the spread of the Ebola virus, Srikrishna has an understanding of how to control epidemics and how public health agencies operate. 

In Episode 12: A Message From India, our host Josh Farden speaks with Dr. Sunil Raina, professor and head of the Department of Community Medicine at Dr. RP Government Medical College in Tanda, India. During this interview, Dr. Raina speaks directly to the audience about what needs to happen to help India during the COVID crisis.

Visual illusions may seem a far cry from the task of trying to connect with people who view the world differently, but they beg relevant questions. If the information stored in our minds can override the signals retrieved from our senses, we might want to account for that in our messaging.

In Covid on Air - Episode 9: The Emperor Wears No Mask, our podcast host, Josh Farden talks with Nicolas Smit, a Canadian engineer working to get elastomeric respirators to healthcare workers around the world. After misinformation spread early on in the pandemic, Smit began working with the Canadian government and news outlets to promote elastomeric respirators as N95 mask alternatives.