There's a difference between ignoring issues, and moderating news consumption.
I think that the current media model of garnering clicks results in a massively disproportionate amount of noise vs signal, and prematurely exaggerates could-be-maybes. This thing about mutation is one such issue that I believe to be overly exaggerated, the *credible* and *measured* readings I've seen on the issue pretty much say it's overblown, but I've been reading about fears of mutation since February (we got hit way before the US). Even if it's a serious issue, what does the individual, worrying about it in front of their screen, right now, achieve? This is a thing that's going to be addressed largely by serious researchers working tirelessly behind the scenes in labs. And again the sources I've found credible don't seem to think it a desperately pressing issue. And in my city, everyone is already acting pretty responsibly and are doing a pretty good job of things, it's not like people are hiding their heads in the sand.
News consumption and staying informed is an important part of a healthy, democratic society. But I also believe that democracies were healthier and more robust before the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and the 24 hour news cycle. In fact, I'd go further and say that short term distractionary news is exactly what makes us more likely to be cattle to be wooed by populist politicians.
Years ago, I shifted to a model of scanning headlines for anything major, on a daily basis. And then weekly publications for big serious long term stuff. That worked great, it sorted out a lot of the sub-24 hour chaff. Then when various local and global crises hit, I got sucked into hour-by-hour news scanning again. Some of that was necessary, as there have been riots or protests by my home or workplace which disrupted travel- there have literally been globally reported beatings by police a five minute walk from my house (issues that predate the current situation in the US). But there was also a lot of stuff that wasn't going to affect me one way or another in the shorter term (this day, this week). And I personally found that it was this stuff that I couldn't affect that was grinding me down.