Perhaps like no other profession on earth, librarians are dedicated to providing others with factual, accurate information across an incredibly broad range of subjects (if you’re a Dewey fan, you might think of it as us covering from 000 to 999 – basically the full range of human knowledge!)
So one of the toughest things about COVID-19 from a personal perspective is that there is so much that’s unknown, unknowable, or ever-changing and it’s reminded me of how important it is to be able to say “I don’t know”.
(On the other hand, it’s also frustrating to see how many people who barely knew the difference between a virus and bacteria a month ago are suddenly experts on infectious diseases! Or how otherwise intelligent people believe coronavirus myths.)
Anyhow, here are just a few examples of the current unknowns around COVID…
- How many people in the general population have been exposed to COVID-19? We don’t know (but probably way more than we realise.)
- How long does COVID last on different surfaces? We don’t know.
- How dangerous is COVID to younger people? We don’t know.
- Is COVID only spread through droplets or is it possibly air borne? We don’t know.
- How long will restrictions last in Canada? We don’t know.
- What is the actual COVID fatality rate? We don’t know.
- How will COVID change the world going forward? We don’t know.
- …and many many more!
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