Coronavirus Misinformation is Proving to be a Contagious Trend

PROVIDENCE, KOMPAS.com - The global race is on to find a Covid-19 vaccine and treatment of the novel virus, but there seems to be no antidote for the rise of coronavirus misinformation.

Many conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths, and sham cures continue to circulate around the world particularly on social media.

The phenomenon escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the Covid-19 virus.

Another discovery found this week was of Russian intelligence spreading coronavirus misinformation through English-language websites.

Read also: Russian Intelligence Services Spreading Disinformation about Covid-19

Experts worry the torrent of bad information is dangerously undermining efforts to slow the virus, whose death toll in the US hit 150,000 Wednesday.

The US death toll is by far the highest in the world, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Over a half-million people have died in the rest of the world.

Hard-hit Florida reported 216 deaths, breaking the single-day record it set a day earlier. Texas confirmed 313 additional deaths, pushing its total to 6,190.

South Carolina’s death toll passed 1,500 this week, more than doubling over the past month. In Georgia, hospitalizations have more than doubled since July 1.