Is Covid-19 Misinformation Real? Arushi Arora Uses Data to Provide the Answer

As everyone around the world grappled with the reality of living through a global pandemic, data expert Arushi Arora was helping people stay safer by analyzing and understanding how rampant misinformation was on the internet. When it comes to life-or-death realities – which was the case with Covid-19 – misinformation can cause long-lasting harm to people, or worse, death. In a detailed study, Arushi and her colleagues used data to understand the misinformation landscape, including its reach and potential impact.  

The study published in The Scientific World Journal found that while sites that ended in “.edu” or “.gov” had high levels of reliability, there were many other active sites that did not. The internet is a critical tool in gathering any and all information in today’s time, public health being no exception to the rule because it reaches people faster than any other source, that bad information existing en masse on the web can be extremely detrimental when trying to overcome a pandemic like Covid-19. Serving as one example of how data can save lives, Arushi’s study illustrates the ever-increasing role data and information play in the public health landscape. 

Fixing any problem requires an accurate understanding of the challenges ahead. Covid-19 misinformation could not be addressed if it was unclear that it actually existed. While anecdotal evidence is easily available, pulling true, data-based evidence takes a unique set of skills. For Arushi, data analysis comes easily, and she has dedicated her career to using her talents for the betterment of humanity. 

Human health has always been a focal point for Arora; as early as 2014, she was working to implement recreational activities for people with disabilities. Then, she acquired training as a therapeutic nutritionist, helping her clients develop long-lasting healthy habits by focusing on the data points that their own bodies were showcasing. During this experience, Arushi started to see how accurate, actionable data could change the health landscape for her patients. It wasn’t long before Arora saw an opportunity to use data on a larger scale, impacting healthcare institutions and systems all over the world.  

In 2018, Arushi challenged herself even further, obtaining a master’s degree in Public Health Epidemiology. She worked as a research assistant during her studies, and from there, her career focused on data-driven research. Arushi is a skilled data expert; she has perfected many programming languages such as SAS, SQL, R, and Python, as well as learned how to lean on a variety of tools and technologies to expand her reach and impact. 

Data analysis is critical to every aspect of healthcare— helping pharmaceuticals in devising novel treatments to life-threatening diseases, doctors in understanding whether a treatment is effective, hospitals in getting a better picture of the communities they serve, and helping governments build evidence-based plans of action during any health crisis. Data analysts are key players in advancing human health, and Arushi’s work is a testament to this reality. 

Today, Arora helps the Mount Sinai Health System in New York maintain databases, manage research requests, uphold clinical research standards, and impart important scientific discoveries through publications. She helps Mount Sinai use real-world data to answer large questions, serve its patients, and overcome challenges. Part of data analytics in healthcare is ensuring that data is clean, organized, and trustworthy. This is not an industry that can absorb a large margin of error in analytics, making the role of analysts such as Arushi imperative. 

Arora worked as a hands-on healthcare professional, then she saw an opportunity to change even more lives by working with data. She knows that good data can save lives, but bad data can end them. She works diligently every day to protect patients, providers, institutions, and communities from the harm that can come from bad data; her work with Covid-19 disinformation is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Article By: Akash Rajotia