Editorial : Rumours hurting scientists
文章日期:2020年2月24日

【明報專訊】AS the novel coronavirus runs wild, scientists have to deal with not only the virus but also political conspiracy theories and slander circulating online. They have even become a target of mob fault-finding. 27 public health scientists around the globe have therefore published a joint declaration on the website of The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal. They strongly criticise the conspiracy theory and rumour that the novel virus "does not have a natural origin", expressing their firm support for Chinese scientists and public health experts as well as opposition against unreasonable and untrue accusations. Social media is flooded with misinformation. Some people play Sherlock Holmes while others take advantage of the epidemic to stir up discrimination and prejudice. There are also politicians who make baseless theories in order to make opportunistic gains. All this has severely hampered cooperation between international experts in their fight against the epidemic. The fact that authoritative experts from a number of countries have stepped forward to express support for their Chinese counterparts reflects the severity of the matter. All of us should be vigilant against rumours and must not let innocent scientists be harmed again.

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