Dr. Drew Blasts Media for Looking to 'Fan the Flames of Panic' with Coronavirus Coverage
TV personality Dr. Drew Pinsky told Fox News he thinks the establishment media are intentionally inciting fear over the spread of the coronavirus from China.
Pinsky appeared on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning to discuss the potentially deadly infectious disease.
Dr. Drew told co-hosts Steve Doocy, Jedediah Bila and Pete Hegseth he thinks the establishment media are going to “great lengths” to stigmatize the virus and manipulate viewers into becoming fearful.
“The media continues to take every effort to fan the flames of panic,” the practicing physician said.
“A local news agency in Los Angeles had … footage of a paramedic being dispatched to a cruise ship repeatedly all evening,” he said.
“At the end, they go, ‘Oh, by the way, there was a fight on a cruise ship. Somebody got injured,'” Pinsky said.
According to Pinsky, people should be prepared to deal with the infection but “the panic is far worse than the virus.”
“Let the professionals whose job it is to contain pandemic do their job,” he said.
Pinsky praised global health authorities for doing “an amazing job” in dealing with coronavirus response.
“Worldwide, the efforts and effect of the organizations like the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the World Health Organization has been remarkable,” he said.
“Look, the WHO has said there’s about a 3 percent fatality rate on this virus, and every time they say that they always qualify it and say, ‘We expect it to drop a lot once we understand the full extent of the virus,’” Pinsky continued.
The coronavirus is “amongst us,” he said, adding, “This is a flu season, everybody. There are 18,000 deaths from the flu.
“Why aren’t we worried about that? Why isn’t the message: Get your flu shot? You’re much more likely to die of the flu than the coronavirus.”
While he said the coronavirus is not the flu, he cautioned Fox viewers that they should approach the coronavirus in the same manner in which they would prepare to prevent contracting influenza.
Pinsky advised people to wash their hands, keep disinfectant wipes available and get a flu shot.
“Do all the things you’re supposed to do in flu season,” he said.
Pinsky later took questions on Twitter from followers concerned about the virus during a live Periscope broadcast. In the broadcast, Pinsky said establishment journalists should be “called out” for their “irresponsible” reporting about the virus.
“People are going to lose their jobs and be hurt by this,” he said of the panic, which is leading many people to stay indoors.
LIVE on #Periscope: #DoseofDrDrew 3-6-20 Taking (probably Coronaviris) questions from New York!https://t.co/iseS8Zp6tP
— Dr Drew (@drdrew) March 6, 2020
As of Friday, 101,774 cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide, and 3,461 people have died. Twelve Americans are among those dead after contracting the virus.
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