Doctors fight ‘infodemic’ with Americans seeing virus as a hoax

Physicians must now add countering misinformation to their protocols for treating Covid-19. — AFP

There’s a no shortage of what US President Donald Trump might call fake news about the coronavirus floating around social media, with plenty of it coming from his own Twitter account. That’s a problem for a growing number of US doctors.

When the virus first hit the US, Trump said it would disappear “like a miracle”. He’s since touted unproven therapies, cast doubt on government scientists and denigrated masks. After his own recent bout with Covid-19, he told his audience, “you’re going to beat it,” referring to a disease that’s killed more than 220,000 Americans.