Twitter Tweet About Covid in Uganda Stimulates Discussion

Christmas at an orphanage in Uganda, pre-Covid. As a result of the
economic lockdown this orphanage in Kampala had to close.

Twitter is a remarkably useful platform. You can follow individuals, or you can do searches for topics and see what is being said about that topic, any topic. You can type in the word "Riots" and see all the places in the world where riots have been taking place. You can also type in the names of places and see what is happening there. You can follow countries or cities where you have friends, or simply places you are curious about. And you can also see responses from others to all these things, often being carried on like an out of control bar fight. It's Reality TV in some ways, though a little more raw and less edited.

I know a few people in Uganda so I check in via Twitter to see what has been happening there since the lockdown.  Here's a Tweet that caught my attention last night.

* * * *
sally
@sallyKP

News Flash!
Uganda (43,000,000 people), where Hydroxychloroquine is eaten like candy due to malaria, have had 20 deaths.
20!

Not 20,000!
Not 2,000!
Not 200!

👉🏼20!👈🏼

* * * *

In checking the factuality of this at the Global COVID-19 Dashboard, I find that there are now 22 deaths. There have been a little over 2300 cases. The country has been in lockdown, which explains some of it, but there are 43 million people and it's curious to see so little impact in many of these poorer countries.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Hydroxychloroquine is not recommended (a) because it is not effective as a treatment for Covid-19 and (b) because it has side effects.

The Food & Drug Administration also cautions against the use of Hydroxychloroquine outside of the hospital or in a clinical study.

According to this BBC story, Uganda reported its first Covid death in late July. The BBC underscores the strictness with which their lockdown has been enforced. In fact more people had died at the hands of the enforcers of the lockdown than had died from the virus (at the time the story was published.)

This article in Science magazine states that scientists have noticed the low death counts in Africa but can't understand the reasons, since the virus does seem prevalent. "The pandemic appears to have spared Africa so far. Scientists are struggling to explain why."

* * * *
Here are several Tweets in response to the Tweet I shared above:

A Canadian in Germany  
@CanadianGermany
Probably not like candy but as a medication against malaria. People will say the average age is in the twenties but I guess there are more than 20 older ones, actually a lot more. The CFR in basically all "malaria countries" is much lower than in EU and US. The difference is HCQ

patriot
@Mahadbarya
Hey...I'm Ugandan and offended ...though the deaths are just 20...we dont eat Hydrochloroquine like candy we take as medicine besides..we use masks,sanitize regulary and at times keep the social distancing ....thank you

Matt Young
@Realmattyoung
I go to Uganda every year! Ugandans are amazing people! I love Uganda. The people were promised masks by the government and they didn’t get any. I talked to one of my contacts who said 2 of those cases were falsified because the Dr’s were paid to lie. God bless Uganda.

Zeroed
@mactimo23
They are falsified deaths

Mike B
@dublinsquirrel
that's why the MSM don't talk about it

ShaQQFu
@ShaQQFu
RIP critical thinking

George
@George96531446
I have been asking why we haven't heard about all the deaths we were supposed to expect from under developed countries? Well now we know why they haven't happened! Take note WORLD.

Graeme Goodall
@GraemeGoodall29
Which begs the question why hydroxychloroquine was withdrawn from the shelves in all European and North American pharmacies just prior to lockdown? Why was The Lancet commissioned by the WHO to brand this safe,effective treatment 'dangerous'.

Daydrinking Drunkard
@KielbasaDude
Replying to @jzippy84 and @NJDeptofHealth 
You still here pushing a bogus miracle drug??? The study doesn't prove shit. Good-bye, knucklehead

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If nothing else, the Twitter stream is an immediate and unmediated place to find information you won't find elsewhere, and misinformation. If you read thoughtfully, though, you can certainly get a pretty good sense of what is happening.

This brings to mind the 2008 event that showed me the power of Twitter. Here are the two posts I wrote back then in response to the Mumbai Hotel incident:
Mumbai Heartbreak Hotel
Why Mumbai Massacre Matters To Us

Just sowing seeds. Make the most of your day. When it's over it will be gone forever.