Covid-19 Resources


This page contains a wide selection of information, support and entertainment links, which I hope you find useful during these strange times. If there’s anything else you think I should add, do let me know.

Also be sure to check out:

Contents

Information & Support

Entertainment & Connections

Important Information

UK – Government

UK – NHS

I also strongly recommend downloading the COVID Symptom Tracker App. It’s not an NHS app – it’s run by King’s College and other partners – but it’s a very important research tool for tracking the nation’s health. Simply open it each day, answer a couple of questions about your current wellbeing, and that’s it.

UK – Citizens Advice

Global

Educational Videos

Visually Impaired & Disabled People

Here you’ll find a variety of links giving help and support to disabled people. Accessible online entertainment is included in the relevant sections further down the page.

Organisations & Resources

Personal Experiences

Other Articles, Blog Posts & Videos

Other Advice & Support

Mental Health

Physical Health

Domestic Violence & Abuse

Shopping

Volunteering & Community Support

Fundraisers

Scams

Conspiracies, Fake News & Misleading Information

The internet is full of misinformation about the pandemic, including false cures for the disease, and extreme conspiracy theories for which there is no proof, and these have quickly spread via social media, WhatsApp, etc. This false information increases confusion and anxiety, leads to dangerous behaviour, and makes it harder for everyone as it helps the virus to spread.

So please be very careful about what you read and share. Yes, the situation is big and scary, and governments could be doing a better job. But trying to handle a global pandemic is a colossal challenge, in which we all have a vital part to play. Nobody wants their freedoms restricted, but our temporary sacrifices are for the greater good. We will beat it if we all work together.

A long list of links debunking the various myths and conspiracies are provided below, after a quick look at how conspiracy theorists commonly behave.

Conspiracy Theorists

Proper interpretation of data and statistics, and a thorough understanding of epidemiology, viruses and pandemics, requires extensive experience in those specific fields through a minimum of degree-level education and a long career, especially in a major global situation like this.

Conspiracy theorists, however, don’t have that level of experience. Instead, they believe they fully understand everything because they’ve watched some conspiracy videos, browsed conspiracy websites, made their own inexperienced judgements on official data and mainstream media reports, and chatted with other conspiracy theorists on social media. They feel all of that is more sufficient than a long education and a distinguished career in science, statistics, etc.

They will also cling on to posts made by supposed whistleblowers from the health or science community, despite there being no proof of their qualifications, or if they’ve been discredited by the profession due to their behaviour, or if the vast majority of science and health professionals disagree with them.

Conspiracy theorists will often refuse to provide any evidence, even if politely asked to do so, or what they do provide is unreliable. So if you challenge them to show any proof, these are their top 10 responses. They will either:

  1. Be abusive, because they’re incapable of a civil conversation (see below).
  2. Block you, because they’re unwilling to listen and unable to give evidence.
  3. Tell you do your own research, because they’re unable to show you theirs.
  4. Make claims and state facts, without giving their sources.
  5. Claim to have experience in the field themselves, or quote other people who have made such a claim, without proving their credentials.
  6. Claim that the mainstream media are biased and government reports are lying, even though opposing views are often represented on media sites.
  7. Link to conspiracy sites and videos, which by definition are biased to their own views (which is rather hypocritical given the previous point)
  8. Link to mainstream media and government reports, cherry-picking pages that they feel support their views, while still making the claim in #6 above.
  9. Post screenshots of reports and data, instead of links to the original sources, so you don’t know if they’ve been misinterpreted or faked.
  10. Posting memes (images with photoshopped text) that claim to quote people or facts, or just make random statements, without source links.

Abuse is particularly common from conspiracy theorists:

  • When referring to those of us who are following the rules, they enjoy using terms like “sheep”, “sheeple”, “shills” and “bedwetters”. They’ll also call face masks “muzzles” or “face nappies”, and spread false rumours about them causing harm. They’ll also call people “bots”, as if anyone who disagrees with them is part of the conspiracy. I guarantee you’ll find at least one of those terms, if not several, in the feeds of most conspiracy theorists.
  • The term “sheep” in particular is used to say that we’re keen to follow the crowd by blindly doing as we’re told by the government, trusting the expert opinions of the majority of scientists and doctors, and believing what we’re told by the so-called “biased” mainstream media. Whereas the truth is we’re doing as we’re told because we care about others, and want to do what we can to keep us and our loved ones safe. Even if we’re personally at low risk, we can still spread the disease to others who would be more severely affected.
  • Conspiracy theorists, however, say they’re not sheep who follow a crowd and blindly do as they’re told – despite the fact that they use the same websites and hashtags to group themselves together, attend protests because people on the internet tell them to, readily believe the same conspiracy websites and videos as each other, have the same approaches to sharing evidence that I listed above, and enjoy using the same abusive terms to ridicule non-believers. So they’re entirely predictable, but they’re not sheep, apparently.

Fact-Checking

Again, please be very careful when searching for information about the pandemic. Always get information from official sources, and from trusted professionals who have proven expertise. The links below (which are not an exhaustive list) will help you to deal with a lot of the misinformation out there:

Arts & Culture

Theatre Shows & Concerts – Online Streams

Some shows are only available for a limited period. Please read the descriptions of videos carefully to ensure you don’t miss out.

Museums, Galleries & Attractions – Virtual Tours

United Kingdom

Europe

America – United States

America – Other Countries

Other Countries

Entertainment

Comedy

Music

Playlists:

Staying Interactive & Connected

Learn New Skills

Virtual Parties & Gatherings

Quizzes

Games

Live Streams

Reading

Even More Ideas & Links