Craig Cooper: Miss Information and Dr Google are a bad couple

Misinformation is rife - face masks will not prevent statues from getting Covid 19. Photo / NZME

Miss Information and Dr Google are dangerous bedfellows.

The presence of the pair has been magnified as Hawke's Bay reacts to a real live case of Covid in our community.

Those reactions vary.
Some of us still rush off to buy toilet paper and flour.

Covid detection seems to activate some sort of irrational fear that we won't be able to wipe our bottoms or bake scones.

Others panic, or become fearful, and hysteria begins to circulate on social media.

The facts around the Napier Covid case are still unravelling.

We know that the person was tested in Auckland, allowed to travel to Napier and found out after leaving that they were positive.

It might seem to be an own goal by the Team of Five Million, but there are multiple scenarios where personal travel is allowed, and you don't need a test.

We know that at least five people - including two police officers - had close contact with the infected person and are self-isolating.

We know that three schoolchildren from Onekawa School are self-isolating.
Everyone else at the school seems fine.

We now know that Napier's Salvation Army second-hand shop closed voluntarily after learning that a contact of the case had visited.

The shop didn't have to close, but chose to as a precaution and is putting its premises through a 'deep clean'.

And we know that Miss Information continues to muddy the waters as the Napier Covid case picture reveals itself.

The DHB has recently lamented the misinformation out there.

It has included written material claiming that the vaccine is dangerous to pregnant woman, and causes you to become magnetised.

Hawke's Bay Today was presented with a recording this week that was supposedly evidence of the risk to pregnant women.

I listened to the recording - three times.

If it is genuine, it clearly states do NOT get a dose of the Pfizer vaccine if you have had a severe reaction to your first injection.

And then it says 'let your vaccine provider know about your medical conditions' and goes on to list multiple conditions, including allergies and pregnancy.

As odd as some of us find, referring to pregnancy as a 'condition', that advice does not mean you should not get the vaccine.

It doesn't mean someone with allergies should not get the vaccine either - it means 'tell your vaccine provider' if you have allergies, or are pregnant.

Miss Information and Dr Google are particular trouble when they mix - ignore them and ask a qualified medical professional for their view before you make a vaccine decision.

The positive of having a Covid case in Napier is that it should gee a few people along to get the vaccine.

On Monday, Hawke's Bay was sitting at 130, 025 - 89 per cent. That's roughly another 1,000 people needed to hit the 90 per cent single vax target of 131,014.

The double-vax rate is currently running at 115,738 people, or 79 per cent.

Misinformation is rife - magnets will NOT stick to you if you get the Covid 19 vaccine. Photo / NZME

Next Monday, we are entering the new traffic light system that allows more freedom for people and businesses. Our vax rate will help determine our colour.

Let's not stall at the lights.