Covid-19: Public distrust hampers Africa fight against virus misinformation

A man wearing a mask walks on the street in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Bogus news and indifference to official warnings are emerging as giant obstacles in a region where poor healthcare infrastructure, sanitation and overcrowded slums provide fertile ground for Covid-19 to spread.— AP

JOHANNESBURG: African nations fighting the novel coronavirus face a foe as stealthy and dangerous as the microbe itself: misinformation and apathy, fuelled by deep distrust of government.

Bogus news and indifference to official warnings are emerging as giant obstacles in a region where poor healthcare infrastructure, sanitation and overcrowded slums provide fertile ground for Covid-19 to spread.