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From the editors

The bad and the good

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By Smallbones

We all know what the bad is. The 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic has spread to at least 190 countries, infecting 683,000 and killing 32,100 – and these are just the numbers as of March 29. Tomorrow they will be worse. People throughout the world are being quarantined or ordered into social distancing, bringing economies to a near-standstill. The WMF has gone into work-from-home mode, and all in-person gatherings of Wikipedians have been cancelled.

While any "good" from the last month is relative, Wikipedians have responded well to the pandemic. About 500 articles have been written on aspects of the pandemic, and page views of the three most viewed articles are 1.7 million daily; check this month's Traffic report for details. Several major news sources have praised Wikipedians' response.

In the media has some details. WikiProject report has extensive views from Wikipedians on the same topics.

Wikipedia is a go-to resource for information in crisis situations. The Special report and Community view explain why this is so.

There are other stories this month. March has traditionally been a special month for stories on women. The Gallery covers this story beautifully.

In focus explores Wikipedia's coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein story.

So how has the coronavirus affected The Signpost? It has been a difficult month for some of us, but we can't complain. We'll save that for the good months. A couple of planned submissions had to be delayed or arrived at the last moment, which is to be expected in such circumstances. We'll get them published in a month or two. We're in this for the duration. Readers who have been considering submitting articles or suggestions to The Signpost should step up and let your voices be heard. Please start with a note on our suggestions page or email me here.

Stay well.


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  • Feeling bad at the moment morally and cannot believe the conspiracy theories built up on the 2019 Military World Games linking it to the coronavirus pandemic. Some sources falsely claimed five of the American military personnel who participated in the event fell sick could have led to the outbreak of COVID-19. These conspiracy theories have also resulted in increase in page views. I personally feel bad and ashamed for contributing to the 2019 Military World Games which was held in Wuhan from 18 to 27 October 2019, nearly one month before the outbreak in Wuhan. Despite these few odds, Wikipedia has been the benchmark for providing accurate and reliable information regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Abishe (talk) 05:08, 30 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Way to display Wikipedia's intransigent clinging to inaccuracy and on the first line of the article. You cannot have a pandemic of a loose virus grouping, only of a disease. Kevin McE (talk) 12:21, 30 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Let us hope that the pandemic will prompt a re-think of large, regular international meetups of WMians—even those at a more local scale. It's high time we adopted a more inclusive use of interactive video conferencing instead of always creating a travel-holiday out of meetups. Using the internet to network is not only more inclusive: it acknowledges the existential threat of climate breakdown. Tony (talk) 02:42, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
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