Coronavirus: The best scientific minds to follow on Twitter for updates on the pandemic

This won't be an indictment of Twitter, but I'll put it this way. When you search "coronavirus doctors" on the social media site, the first organic result is not ... helpful.

The first organic result is for a parody account for someone called Doctor NiMo. You shouldn't bother looking into who this account is parodying if you're more preoccupied with finding reliable real-time information on the latest Coronavirus updates and information.

Inverse has put together this list of doctors whose insight is reliable. (Twitter is great for real-time updates but there is a lot of garbage out there, too). Follow these people on Twitter for actually good information about COVID-19:

Dr. Yale Tung - @yaletung — The emergency room doctor based in Madrid, Spain, has been diagnosed with Coronavirus. He's been sharing updates about his symptoms under the hashtag #mycoviddiary, as well as Ultrasound scans of his lungs. Day 1: "Sore throat, headache (strong!), Dry cough but not shortness of breath." Day 7: "Cough & weakness got worse (again), still no dyspnea. No fever." A must-follow.

Eugene Gu, MD - @eugenegu — Yes, this is a reply-guy to President Donald Trump (one of those people who is among the first to reply to Trump's tweets with a contentious rebuttal), but his tweets about Coronavirus are deeply detailed and factual, offering real information about the progress of a vaccine and the work being done on it. It's free of the platitudes you'll see from agency directors and politicians, and full of specific information that this list is all about.

Roxanne Khamsi's Twitter list — Khamsi is a Montreal-based science journalist who's won several awards for her reporting by healthcare writing associations. She has put together a Twitter list of 125 people that includes journalists and researchers. As with any Twitter list, it's going to have the non-Coronavirus tweets, which could add noise when you just want a signal. But on this list, those occurrences are rare and the reliable info is plentiful.

Kevin Pho, MD - @kevinmd — Pho largely shares links to posts on his eponymous blog and lately, those posts are all dedicated to living in the time of coronavirus. From feature-y stories about preparing for a world of a telehealth to stats-filled posts that fill your brain with sticky points of data, Pho is a fantastic resource and worth a follow right now, as well as the future, after we've hopefully flattened the curve.

David Jurrlink - @davidjuurlink — Jurrlink is the sort of politically minded Twitter personality who posts wholly appropriate opinions in the form of hot takes, which can get a little annoying after a while. So why should you follow him on Twitter? His smart-ass tweets are good advice in disguise. They help you contextualize the data you're absorbing from the more research-focused doctors on our list. You can always unfollow if it gets to be too much.

Sue Desmond-Hellmann - @SueDHellmann — The American oncologist and biotechnology leader has long been a cancer researcher and clinical scientist, and recently stepped down after a five-year tenure as CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her Twitter feed is full of approachable advice, and messaging about how to live in the time of Coronavirus as well as links to academic resources that answer common questions about Coronavirus.

More COVID-19 resources:

- How to work out safely during the COVID-19 pandemic

- Can vitamin C cure the coronavirus? Why this claim keeps coming up

- A psychologist explains how to manage your mental health during COVID-19

- Why scientists and doctors are so adamant about social distancing