A damning study conducted by Cornell University cast aspersions on United States President Donald Trump's understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his public statements regarding it, some of which can be attributed to spreading 'infodemic' in the United States.
The new study suggests that among the world leaders, Trump has been found as the world’s biggest spreader of coronavirus misinformation.
A team from the Cornell Alliance for Science evaluated 38 million articles published by English-language, traditional media worldwide between Jan 1 and May 26 of this year.
It was calculated that nearly 38 percent of the “misinformation conversation” began with Trump doing things such as promoting unproven “miracle cures” for Covid-19 or claiming with zero evidence that the pandemic was a “Democratic Party hoax” aimed at derailing his presidency.
Elaborating on the scale of the infodemic, posts elicited 36 million engagements in social media, three-quarters of them on Facebook.
The research identified 522,472 news articles that reproduced or amplified misinformation related to the coronavirus pandemic, or what the World Health Organisation has called the "infodemic".
The database they used aggregates coverage from countries such as the United States, Britain, India, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other African and Asian nations.
The posts were categorised into 11 main sub-topics, ranging from conspiracy theories to attacks on top scientist Anthony Fauci to the idea that the virus is a bioweapon unleashed by China.
The study found out that the most popular topic was termed "miracle cures"--led by his April 24 press briefing where he said that it was possible to kill the COVID-19 virus by using disinfectants inside the body.
The study also revealed user interests in the use of hydroxychloroquine to cure COVID-19, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is considered unproven.
It is also to be noted that Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19.
Trump on Thursday had said that he and first lady Melania Trump have undergone COVID-19 tests after one of his senior advisers tested positive for the infection, and added that they will begin their quarantine process.
Earlier, it was reported that Hope Hicks, a top adviser to President Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing symptoms.