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As researchers strive to track and consist of the coronavirus outbreak, misguiding details about the international spread of the virus continues to flourish on the internet.
Here’s how a decade-old map revealing worldwide flight was used incorrectly by news sites across the world, leading to headings such as “New map reveals no nation safe from coronavirus tentacles” and “Frightening map reveals how thousands of Wuhan tourists might have spread out coronavirus to 400 cities worldwide.”
How did it begin?
Earlier this month, the World Population Task, at the University of Southampton, published research study predicting where people from Wuhan, where the virus originated, had taken a trip to in the two weeks prior to the city entered into quarantine lockdown.
Researchers looked at air travel and smart phone information of Wuhan citizens from previous years.
The study approximated nearly 60,000 individuals may have travelled to nearly 400 cities worldwide prior to the Wuhan authorities had actually imposed a restriction on travel.
The researchers posted a series of messages about their deal with Twitter, consisting of one with a map illustrating international flight.
But the post did not describe the map was not part of the study.
Some individuals responded and asked if the graphic – covered in red lines suggesting world flight paths – represented the findings of the study. “No,” the group clarified – it was part of a series of posts and meant to reveal the degree of the international air network – and deleted the tweet.
However “somehow, from this, an incorrect story has spiralled”, the university press workplace told BBC News.
What happened next?
The map appears to have first been gotten by a number of Australian news outlets. It has also appeared in the online editions of the Sun, Daily Mail and City.
The Australian TELEVISION outlet 7News utilized the map in a discussion and posted a social-media video featuring it that has now been viewed more than seven million times.
The red lines, states the speaker, represent five million Wuhan homeowners who fled the city.
In reality, the red lines just show flight routes around the world.
And, perpetuating the myth, just last week a visitor informed US radio host Glenn Beck UK researchers had tracked the mobile phones of 60,000 individuals that had left China and then produced a travel map.
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