
Seven months later, what we know about Covid-19 – and the questions that remain - divbzero
https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/17/what-we-now-know-about-covid19-and-what-questions-remain-to-be-answered/
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SOLAR_FIELDS
This is a nice overview that I will keep and send to people while it’s still
relevant. I recently did a small amount of traveling and got to speak with a
couple strangers in person during my travels. The amount of misinformation
floating around regarding the virus in more rural areas of the US is
staggering. Most people in the city seem to have some grasp of the magnitude
of the issue and the various risks but out in the countryside I heard all
manner of complete misinformation.

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hknapp
What, would you say, are the most common misconceptions among these rural
people?

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Ccecil
Not sure about the OP...but based on my observations this is the main
misinformation I hear.

1) Masks, They are viewed as a violation of their "rights", do more harm than
good, make people not be able to breath, feed the virus back into you.

2) Fake news: The whole thing is fake. Nobody is getting sick. No worse than a
cold. Just a flu.

3) Social distancing: Don't need it. It is harming businesses and therefore
should be ignored. Violation of my rights.

Those are the main ones I really see in my area. My city is on the edge where
rural begins. Also, 52% registered Republican last I checked...not saying that
has anything to do with it but I have never once in my life observed so many
locals out protesting as I did when they made a mask mandate.

[https://cdapress.com/news/2020/jul/23/mask-up-kootenai-
count...](https://cdapress.com/news/2020/jul/23/mask-up-kootenai-county-5/)
Pictures here pretty much show the most common misinformation I see/hear but
in sign form.

edit: forgot a word :)

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SOLAR_FIELDS
I heard a LOT of number two. People I spoke to in more rural areas seemed to
downplay the risk a lot. Most people seemed to acknowledge the reality of the
virus but leaned heavily on talking points that downplayed either the
morbidity of the disease or their risk of contracting it.

Of course, if you live in rural areas there is some reality to the notion that
your chance of contracting it is less, but if you’re talking to a complete
stranger from the city (me) it dismantles that idea pretty quickly.

