There ’s a whole pile of COVID misinformation out there , from whether or not the vaccines are safe in gestation ( they are ) to whether or not they are creditworthy for your cousin ’s friend ’s mammoth balls ( they are n’t . )

It can be tempting to assume that all such rumors are the result ofbad boomer meme on social media , but sometimes it ’s potential to wind up believing mistaken claim through perfectly cromulent outlets . As a viral Twitter thread from University College Dublin Professor of ArchitectureOrla Hegartyhas recently shown , it ’s all too loose sometimes for a soundbite to become receive wisdom – even when that soundbite is n’t in fact accurate .

In the train of thought , Hegarty explains how she was contacted by a journalist for the Irish Times ask her for a comment on the nation ’s COVID limitation . Citing finding from Ireland ’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre ( HPSC ) , which monitors COVID data point for the country , the writer was look for an thought on whether “ the government [ was ] too prohibitory on masses meeting outdoors ” given that “ only about one in 1,000 cases of COVID-19 come from an outdoor scope . ”

There was just one job : the HPSC data point did n’t say that at all .

As Hegarty maneuver out in her answer , the HPSC only mentioned outbreaks , not lawsuit – the “ vast bulk of Covid cases are not connect to outbreaks , ” Hegarty tweeted . And even the data on irruption alone was very modified , and only cut across configurations relating to a fistful of specific locations .

That ’s not a rebuff against HPSC – it is notoriously difficult to exactly nail when and where somebody gets infect with COVID . That ’s why we demand things likehuman challenge studiesto get real data point . But , as Hegarty explain , it does think that the information provided could not be used to measure the jeopardy of indoor versus outdoor transmission .

Despite Hegarty ’s warnings , the diarist went forward with the musical composition – “ one in 1,000 ” statistic included . shortly it had been picked up in the UK insistence , who mysteriously cite the HPSC reply as “ a field , ” and before long , the factoid had open across the Earth .

And despite Irish health officialspointing outthat the figures were misleading , things then got even weirder . The “ one in 1,000 ” statistic – which , just to prompt you , was a back - of - an - envelope computation done by a diarist who had already been told it was inaccurate – protrude deform up in academic papers .

It even made it into the British Medical Journal .

lawgiver and particular interest chemical group started lobbying for it to be used to inform public health policy .

It is reliable that most experts accord you’reless likelyto catch COVID in an outdoor circumstance , but the exact numbers pool are hard – if not insufferable – to quantify . That ’s why when places like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) seek to add up up with estimates based on hard data , they ’re invariablyaccusedof misrepresenting the truth .

Hegarty ’s thread should be involve as a stark reminder that just because we need something to be true , does n’t mean it is – and to always check our sources . After all , as Hegartytweetedback in April , “ it ’s a loyal moving situation & media are under pressure … but we all have honorable responsibility when speak publically in a wellness emergency . ”