Covid-19 information: Even the brightest minds are getting it wrong – The Wall Street Journal

Africa Check, an organisation devoted to separating fact from fiction, highlights a warning from the World Health Organization that the Covid-19 outbreak has been accompanied by an "infodemic": "an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it". Fake news about coronavirus isn't limited to personal Facebook feeds or extremely negative, scaremongering information. As The Wall Street Journal underscores in this report on a controversial essay that argued against hysteria, even so-called data experts can get things wrong. What's more, underestimating the threat coronavirus poses to the population, and gagging commentators, could be just as hazardous as whipping up fear. – Jackie Cameron