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The Infodemic—April 6

Welcome! We're tracking the global spread of coronavirus disinformation, and what is being done to combat it. If you like what you are seeing, please help me to spread the word and sign up here.

Here are a few narratives - real and fake - that have caught our attention. 

Twenty minutes after Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted into the hospital, Russia’s state news agency published a story headlined: “Source: Johnson will be put on a ventilator.” 

Whether Russians are making things up or just have excellent sources, they have hit fertile propaganda ground. Judging by reactions on social media, the British public is questioning the official line that Johnson is simply undergoing “routine tests.”