‘Covid Parties’ Are Not a Thing
No, Alabama frat boys aren’t doing snot shots and betting on who can get sick first. “Why does the media keep suggesting otherwise?” asks Wired in its report ‘Covid Parties’ Are Not a Thing.
“They put money in a pot and they try to get Covid,” said City Council member Sonya McKinstry. “Whoever gets Covid first gets the pot. It makes no sense.”
That much, at least, is true: This story makes no sense. Despite its implausibility and utter lack of valid sourcing, the fantasy of Alabama virus gamblers has nonetheless exploded across the internet, with slack-jawed coverage turning up in CNN, the New York Post, and the Associated Press, among many others. A representative headline declares, “Tuscaloosa students held parties, bet on who got coronavirus first.”
This is not the first reporting on the spread of Covid parties, which are, in fact, neither happening nor spreading. Back in March, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear announced during a daily public-health update that one case in the state had been tied to a “coronavirus party.”
Rumblings had developed into rumors by the start of May, when a public health official in Walla Walla, Washington, claimed to have discovered, via careful contact tracing, that at least two patients had indeed attended “Covid parties” so as to “get it over with.”
The press just can’t stop pushing the narrative that people are trying to get themselves infected. And they always seem to push it the same way: Local reporters write down what some official said, and then national publications pick up those claims, citing the local reports as evidence. At no point in this chain has anyone bothered to confirm the underlying claim. The whole thing is reminiscent of the supposed scourge, in the mid-2000s, of “pharm parties,” at which America’s wayward teens were said to put their parents’ prescription drugs into a bowl and then consume them at random. This did not really happen.
What’s Going On?
Fake news sells. That’s what. This one seems to have 9 lives.
I am always skeptical of these kinds of reports just as I was over numerous Russia allegations.
Mish
For everycry of “fake news” there are real people being injured.Although I agree things are too sensationalized- not everything is pure fiction.I dont think it’s a good idea to train people to reflexively mistrust EVEYTHING they hear. People have to be discerning, but Covid skeptics are dying.
I am always skeptical of these kinds of reports just as I was over numerous Russia allegations.
But Mish would happily fall for All nonsensical stories about “evil CCP”.
Not so long ago parents and communities did this kind of thing to get through these viruses.
Now we have victimized know it alls who virtue signal fake science that is propagated by profiteers who feed fear to the fear addicts.
At least Mish wears his victimhood on his sleeve. Imagine if Mish tried to hide his agenda like Joe the Pedophile tries to hide his abuse of children. Thanks for being honest Mish.
And even back then, some people had debilitating side effects and death.
Statistics dont mean much when YOU are the person who requires a double lung transplant or continue to have it 75 days later.
Maybe you haven’t starting losing people yet…I have!
The sensationalism in the news has gotten much worse. I thinks it’s because in the old days only the front page headlines made people buy a newspaper, but now every article is a front page headline.
It is almost as ridiculous as the constant lies printed against Trump. There are no journalists left in America, only whores who print lies to garner clicks on the computer to sell advertising…..
To Mish,
My first comment is, what does this story have to do with Global Economic Trend Analysis?
I see nothing on how a Coronavirus Party / Possible Fake News is related to; (to name a few) the World Trade Organization, International Finance, Global Investment, Deflation, Unemployment, etc.
My second comment is, how much time did you actually spend before you posted this? I see you copied and pasted this article from Wired but you wrote less than 50 words.
Regarding the possibility that the Coronavirus Party is Fake News, here is another article (link below) where the Writer suggests that he wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.
I think we need more sources to confirm if this type of party actually happened. Unfortunately, we may never get all the facts. I’d like to think that these College Students are smart enough to know to not hold one of these types of parties but lately, with multiple people around the country not wanting to wear face masks, social distancing or following CDC Guidelines, tells me that i wouldn’t be surprised either if they actually did have this party and it’s Scary!
I can expect this from CNN…..they don’t report news at all. They spew out their own narrative and opinions that have nothing to do with real news. They are a total disgrace to real reporters . Everyone of these CNN soldiers of disinformation should where their masks to stop the spread their BS Virus.
The Russia allegations are still going strong. Now everybody is reporting that the Russians have adopted an American practice from the 1980’s Afghan war, paying bounty for soldiers killed.
It remains axiomatic in America that the Russians interfered with all kinds of elections (to sow division), but there is absolutely no clear evidence that any of it was funded or directed by the Kremlin, nor confirmation of what the object, nor even of the much more obvious explanation, that it is click bait, especially as most of the examples (looking at any of the examples will certainly not convince you) happened post election!
The ‘evidence’ Facebook purportedly found after finding nothing seems to have occurred reluctantly under duress.
Insisting that all the other Dear Leaders are baaaaad Dear Leaders, but “our” Dear Leader is a goooood Dear Leader, has been the standard playbook of totalitarians, and the idiots who fall for their shtick, since the dawn of time.
“We” just have to hand over ever more of our stuff and freedoms to our, good, Dear Leader. So he can pjotekt us! Otherwise all the Russian and Mexican and Chinese bad Dear Leaders, will come here and be mean to us!
The US News system is broken because it became combined with merchandising. Their primary objective is not to inform, but to sell. Their target is not accuracy, but eyeballs.
BRE is not Business Re-Engineering … it’s Business Ruins Everything
I’m not talking about making any kind of widgets … I’m talking about human-focused endeavors like sports, art, healthcare, news, etc.
Once the SCOTUS fraudulently made corporations “persons under the law” the grand American experiment was a dead man walking. Everything became “For Sale” and and included the government … and the primary buyers were the corporations. Citizens United was just the most recent “purchase” by US business interests.
Who benefits from planting such a dumbass story?
Idiots that consistently chant “fake news!”…
It “proves” their theory.
Students having parties? Is it that the fake news is that they had an intent to get sick, or did they pull someone’s leg by saying they were trying to get ill, or is it just that they didn’t give a damn if they did?
Washington state…
More than 100 students living in fraternity houses near the University of Washington campus have reported testing positive for COVID-19, with hundreds of results pending. The Interfraternity Council, a student-led governing board for UW fraternities, said that at least 105 residents living in 15 fraternity houses have self-reported that they tested positive, CBS affiliate KIRO-TV reports.
The university learned Saturday that some fraternity residents had symptoms of COVID-19, and public health officials noticed a spike in cases among people ages 18 to 20, according to university spokeswoman Michelle Ma.
Ma said more than 800 students have been tested since Monday in response to the Greek system outbreak. The university expects to have an updated case count early next week. The Interfraternity Council has asked fraternity houses to stop holding social events, Ma said.
Experts say the outbreak, along with cases among student athletes, is a troubling sign of what may be in store if colleges reopen in the fall. University of Washington leadership said this week they hope to reopen in-person, with larger classes held virtually, but that plans could change based on the virus’s spread.
Daniel Leifer, a pediatrician studying dermatology at UW, estimates he saw about a dozen parties when walking by Greek Row in recent months. Students stood close together, and masks were nowhere to be seen, he said.
Dr. Charles Lockwood, the senior vice president of University of South Florida Health, has administered more than 300 coronavirus tests and is alarmed by the spike among young people.
“It really is consistent with what we’ve been observing, which is incredible noncompliance with wearing face masks, social distancing, particularly among young adults and teenagers,” he said.
Lockwood recognized that young people have “a different way of looking at life.”
“The problem is that while you may not die and you may not even know you’re sick, you may be killing other people,” he said.
Me and my family have daily ‘avoid-the-coronavirus’ parties. It’s called self-isolation. I’m really becoming addicted to Acey-Duecy — the backgammon game.
But seriously, it is apparent that the mainstream press is all about generating either ‘hits’ on news sites or maintaining a certain political narrative.
I foresee more practice in your future.
I was skeptical of these stories too. I can totally see college kids not caring much about the virus or thinking that they’re too young to be affected, but gambling on who can be infected first seems unlikely.
US media, particularly political media, has been rife with sensationalism for decades. It’s a big part of why we believe everyone else is crazy and/or stupid. The public also gleefully gobbles up stories where they can look down on others so they can feel better about themselves.
national inquirer comes to mind
And New York Times. And Wall Street Journal. It’s all garbage. Rather pointless attempting to play favorites.
What the media doesn’t seem to understand is that when they run these stories that later turn out to be fake – something they could have discovered for themselves if they had just done the bare minimum of research – they lessen their credibility on every other story they publish.
And the reality is that they aren’t doing this on just these obviously bullshit stories – they do it all the time when publishing many other things that are far more important.
That’s because it’s all about “BREAKING NEWS!!!!”, not factual reporting. If the BREAKING NEWS banner isn’t up, as it isn’t right now, then they have another banner, which today is “CORONAVIRUS CRISIS” (always in capital white letters on a red blackground. Ooops, am I allowed to say “blackground” any longer?
Do you mean background?
My bad. Had just read something about the word BLACK being banned going forward.
It is because they have a narrative that they want to sell. This time it is “irresponsible Americans.” These “news” organizations are propaganda anuses for their corporate leaders.