The Spanish Flu was born in Kansas & other Savvy Insights

What’s clear is that there is a staggering amount of information (and misinformation) swirling around Covid-19. We are all struggling with navigating this new landscape and can probably do with a little help. That is the intent of today’s article.

Here we discuss some of the key questions of the week, explore the cognitive biases impacting how we interpret information, and provide updates on the stories we covered last time.

Repeating Theranos’ mistakes in the COVID-19 Era
Our book unpacks the Theranos fraud through the cognitive biases that blinded its board from seeing the deceit happening before their eyes. Now Tyler Shultz, the Theranos whistleblower and grandson of former Secretary of State George Shultz, explains how fraudulent biotech companies might be deceiving the general public. In his view, relaxed regulations, misinformation, and the potential for a big payout are reminiscent of the conditions that cultivated Theranos.

Schultz raises four critical questions about the antibody tests which are being rushed to market. These questions have no answers as yet:

• Does having antibodies convey immunity?
• What concentration of antibodies is required to maintain immunity?
• How long does immunity typically last?
• Does immunity to one strain of SARS-CoV-2 give you immunity to all strains?

This leads to another question: Does the $25 billion allocation by the FDA for antibody research create a fertile breeding ground for the next Theranos-esque fraud? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. There are over 100 companies rushing tests to market and many of them do not have reliable results. We need the antibody tests urgently, tests that work without producing false positives or false negatives. But neither speed to market nor greed should override ethics and accuracy as it did with Theranos. Getting testing right can be a matter of life and death.

Bottom Line: Theranos’ mistakes may be repeated if antibody tests that haven’t had a chance to be fully vetted by the FDA get adopted.

Roche CEO says it’s imperative to tell the truth
During this period, Roche CEO, Severin Schwan is spending a lot of time talking to employees, customers, business partners, and governments about trust and speaking the truth. At the heart of his message is the importance of being honest and blunt even if it stirs up what he refers to as a “shit storm.”

But that’s only half of the equation. Even if leaders like Schwan are brutally honest, we have to be ready to receive the truth. However, being human means being imperfect in how we process information. And unfortunately, in times of uncertainty, we tend to lean into faulty heuristics to help make sense of our world. This is where our cognitive biases come out to play, distorting how we seek and interpret information. With dozens of biases affecting how we construe the world (we discuss many in Savvy), we have to be careful how we digest what experts and leaders are saying.

Bottom Line: Cognitive biases cloud our judgement especially in times of crisis. The first step in orienting ourselves toward the truth is to become aware of our errors in thinking.

Did the Spanish flu originate in Spain?
Experts believe the Spanish flu of 1918, which infected 500 million people and killed at least 50 million, actually originated in Fort Riley, Kansas. Why then is it called the Spanish flu? Governments downplayed the seriousness of the flu to protect soldier morale during World War I. Neutral Spain was the one exception, where its newspapers were free to report on the outbreak, creating the impression that it was hit exceptionally hard and hence the 1918 Pandemic got its name. The anchoring bias, or tendency to be heavily influenced by the first piece of information you hear on a topic, is partially responsible for initiating this mistruth. And of course confirmation bias, interpreting every new piece of information we hear as affirmation of our existing beliefs, is responsible for keeping this mistruth alive.

Few contest that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China. However, conspiracy theorists, and now some government officials, are propagating narratives that it was engineered in a Chinese laboratory. That’s not true. As The Economist has reported, Western experts say that the sequence of the new virus’ genome shows that there was no genetic engineering at play. While Wuhan has a laboratory that has worked on making coronaviruses more pathogenic, the lab was not responsible for creating COVID-19.

Bottom Line: Try not to let your biases distort the information you receive about COVID-19. Focus on staying healthy and less on the origins of the virus.

Celebrating World Press Freedom Day
Sunday was World Press Freedom Day. UNESCO launched a global campaign themed “Journalism without Fear or Favor.” Catch the Tackling Disinformation in the Covid-19 Context livestream with government leaders, renowned journalists, and the UN Secretary General. Maria Ressa, founder of Rappler News, whose story we featured in Savvy, also participated in the discussion. Whom and what to trust in the context of COVID-19?
Use these Savvy tips to help you determine where to look for health related information.

• Trust doctors, health officials, your mayor, and your state governor (in that order).
• Watch the national news but focus on what the experts have to say.
• Use caution when listening to political leaders who are in a reelection year.
• Practice common sense and don’t put yourself unnecessarily at risk.

Updates from last week’s article

• According to a recent survey highlighted in USA Today, most Americans appear to trust Dr. Fauci when looking for answers related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Australia and Sweden have also called for an investigation into the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis though neither has pulled WHO funding.
• The Department of Justice has found evidence of PPP loan fraud among companies seeking relief via the Paycheck Protection Program. Shake Shack returned the money just in time.

Learn more about Savvy
Savvy has been recognized with five major book awards in less than a year. More information about the book, speaker and media inquiries at www.savvymatters.com Purchase the book on Amazon.com or via your local bookstore.

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