Tucker Carlson, host of the Fox News show "Tucker Carlson Tonight," recently made some questionable comments about quarantine and coronavirus, stating that the flattening of the curve was likely not due to any quarantine or social distancing but with the severity of the disease.
In the segment, Carlson stated that there is no justification for the bay area extending its lockdown until May. Carlson went on to say:
"They told us...we have to take radical steps in order to 'flatten the curve.' Well, 6 weeks later we are happy to say that curve has been flattened. But it's likely not because of the lockdowns. The virus just isn't nearly as deadly as we thought it was."
Tucker Carlson says there is no scientific justification for quarantine, says the curve flattened but quarantine ha… https://t.co/SRTts3je64— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1588032679.0
According to Pew Research, 43 percent of Americans trust Fox News for their political and election news. That means nearly 142 million Americans trust that when they turn on Fox, they will hear the truth. Instead, Carlson's statements go against what President Donald Trump's own top public health advisors have said and the CDC's position on how coronavirus spreads — either person to person or via direct contact with contaminated objects.
While more than 56,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States alone — more deaths than H1N1 "swine flu" and Ebola combined — it is flippant to insinuate that the pandemic isn't as severe as government officials have warned and that quarantine isn't a mitigating factor in flattening the curve.
With only around 5.6 million Americans having been tested for the disease, that leaves a massive chunk of people who could break quarantine and contract and spread the virus in a second wave.
Fox News has recently been sued for, according to the lawsuit "falsely and deceptively disseminating 'News' via cable news contracts that the coronavirus was a 'hoax,' and that it was otherwise not a danger to public health and safety." They also have a long list of controversies involving things like political bias, harassment allegations, and misinformation in studies and reports. Carlson's quarantine statement falls in line with a history of reporting by way of implicit bias and sending out misinformation en masse.
Most important, Americans should be getting their information from trusted resources like the CDC and the World Health Organization. Not from a network with a long history of speaking from opinion rather than facts.
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