COVID 19 Infodemic: An Analysis of Myths and Realities

Abstract

Coronavirus pandemic on one hand has affected the social life and attitude of the people and on the other hand, it has given a fertile ground to the opportunists to propagate and develop novel theories. This investigation aimed to explore one of the viral theories that claim the pandemic as a sponsored plan of WHO and other donor agencies which involve the international leadership, governments and global media. It claims that coronavirus cases and deaths increased after the announcement of financial assistance for the virus-affected countries by WHO on March 11, 2020. The quantitative study analyzes the data consisting of corona-cases and corona-deaths reported from March 1-31, 2020 in Pakistan, India, Italy and America, and media coverage of the pandemic by news channels like Geo News, ARY News, Aaj Tak News and a renowned international channel CNN during the same time span. The results of the study negate the theory of global conspiracy and planted media coverage. It presents that COVID 19 is a pandemic that has nothing proportional with any proposed and sponsored plan by any organization. The study recommends a replica study by selecting a longer duration of the pandemic, increasing the number of counties and news channels to confirm the result of the study.