PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — As the world seeks a vaccine and treatment for Covid-19, there is no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and bogus cures.
The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus, citing a woman who claims Covid-19 is spread by demons, and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the pandemic through English-language websites.
Experts say the torrent of bad information is dangerously undermining efforts to slow the virus, whose U.S. death toll hit 150,000 Wednesday, by far the highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 500,000 people have died in the rest of the world.
Hard-hit Florida reported 216 deaths Wednesday, breaking the single-day record it set Tuesday. Texas confirmed 313 additional deaths, pushing its total to 6,190, while South Carolina's death toll passed 1,500 this week, more than doubling in the past month. In Georgia, hospitalizations have more than doubled since July 1.
"It is a real challenge in terms of trying to get the message to the public about what they can really do to protect themselves and what the facts are behind the problem," said Michael Osterholm, head of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
He said that "people are putting themselves in harm's way because they don't believe the virus is something they have to deal with."
Rather than fade away in the face of new evidence, the claims have flourished, fed by mixed messages from officials, transmitted by social media, amplified by Trump and mutating when confronted with contradictory facts.
"You don't need masks. There is a cure," Dr. Stella Immanuel said in a video that promoted hydroxychloroquine. "You don't need people to be locked down."
The truth: Federal regulators in June revoked their authorization of the drug as an emergency treatment amid growing evidence it doesn't work and can have deadly side effects. Even if it were effective, it would not negate the need for masks and other measures to contain the outbreak.
None of that stopped Trump, who has repeatedly praised the drug, from retweeting the video. Twitter and Facebook began removing the video Monday for violating policies on Covid-19 misinformation, but it had already been seen more than 20 million times.
Many of the claims in Immanuel's video are widely disputed by medical experts. She has made even more bizarre pronouncements in the past, saying that cysts, fibroids and some other conditions can be caused by having sex with demons, that McDonald's and Pokemon promote witchcraft, that alien DNA is used in medical treatments, and that half-human "reptilians" work in the government.
Other baseless theories and hoaxes have alleged that the virus isn't real or that it's a bioweapon created by the United States or its adversaries. One hoax from the pandemic’s early months claimed new 5G towers were spreading the virus through microwaves. Another conspiracy theory claimed that Microsoft founder Bill Gates — a world leader in funding public health — plans to use Covid-19 vaccines to implant microchips in all 7 billion people on the planet.
Then there are the political conspiracy theories — that doctors, journalists and federal officials are conspiring to lie about the threat of the virus to hurt Trump politically. Donald Trump Jr., among others, has helped to spread that one.
Social media has amplified the claims and helped believers find each other. The flood of misinformation has posed a challenge for Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, which have found themselves accused of censorship for taking down virus misinformation.
