P3Care counters misinformation around topics of medical billing or MIPS 2020 reporting about the much-talked-about coronavirus. Yes, the Wuhan-born virus is breaking news on every news channel in the world.

A session held on Friday in New York City by the Center for Disaster Medicine at New York Medical College (NYMC) about the virus recorded someone from the audience asking, “Is it safe to eat Chinese food?”. That is what news without investigation can do to you. There is much wrong information floating around that it has become hard to differentiate between facts and fiction.

There are 5 common misconceptions about the virus with counterarguments for the greater good of the people.

And, yes, eating Chinese is safe. It is ‘not’ a safety hazard by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Misconception 1: Coronavirus is more dangerous than any other virus and is spreading fast

Wrong. The measles virus is much more dangerous than coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The only reason it has not spread quickly is that most people are already vaccinated for measles. Voila! It doesn’t make it to the news or social media.

The experts say that this virus can affect 2 to 3 people around. However, this data has a lot of uncertainty because it has not gone through scientific-peer assessment yet.

Misconception 2 – It can kill you

In a session, held by NYMC, Mary Foote, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Coordinator for Communicable Disease Preparedness at the NYC Department of Health said that it is believed that everyone who gets affected by the new virus eventually dies. But people are at greater risk from heart disease, cancer, old age, and any other life-threatening disease than by this virus.

People are at greater risk of influenza and chances of them ending up in hospitals from influenza are higher. Stating a fact, Flu kills tens of thousands of people every year in the US and 291,000 to 646,000 people in the world (according to a study published in The Lancet). CDC stresses on getting flu shots on their website and social channels for public protection as we speak. Hence, people ought to be more concerned about protecting themselves from the flu rather than the coronavirus.

Misconception 3 – It was manufactured in a laboratory and is being used as a biological weapon

The news that was spread earlier by a large number of Russian domestic channels suggested the involvement of the United States behind this outbreak. The misinformation further spread like fire saying the US has created this bioweapon against China and that US pharmacists were making billions from this.

Similar conspiracy theories are creeping up in China and, oh surprise, surprise, some of them are coming from within the U.S. All of these are just conspiracy theories and nothing more. No, there is no evidence that this was a human-designed strain of the virus created to destroy countries or dismantle governments.

Misconception 4 – A cure is available

A vaccine is not developed in the blink of an eye. There hasn’t been a vaccine until now because it is a new virus and producing a vaccine to counter will take some time. Public and private organizations are cooperating to assist scientists in finding a remedy for this virus as quickly as they can.

Misconception 5 – Every person with fever and coughing is infected with coronavirus

This is misinformation #5 on this list. Since the public is unaware of reality, they think every person with the common flu is infected with the coronavirus. CDC has stressed the importance of flu vaccination several times. Medicare offers to reimburse providers if they claim for giving flu shots to their patients. The same facility is for the beneficiaries to get their flu shots on time in which they don’t have to pay any out-of-pocket costs. Health plans are in full support of this cause.