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The Infodemic: Unrest brews as Wuhan emerges from lockdown; global reactions to cuts to WHO funding

Welcome! We're tracking the global spread of coronavirus disinformation, and what is being done to combat it. 

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

President Trump’s announcement that he would cut funding for the WHO because the organization is responsible for “so much death” has caused all sorts of reactions. Here’s an interesting one:

• Margarita Simoniyan, who in addition to running RT — the Kremlin’s most important propaganda network — also has one of the most engaging Facebook accounts I’ve come across, was one of the first to post about Trump’s announcement:
  
  “Trumps ordered to stop WHO funding. He really is our kind of guy. He likes to spite the conductor.” 
  
  Simonyan is referring to a proverb: “I’ll walk to spite the conductor,” the Russian version of cutting off the nose to spite the face, and probably to the fact that the US is a major beneficiary of the WHO’s role in global control of outbreaks. 

The big question: How will the WHO funding cut, if it actually goes ahead, affect those who rely on the organization the most? The African Exponent has an interesting piece saying that “reduced funding for the organization will lead to more deaths from Covid-19 in Africa because the majority of the healthcare systems in the continent are substandard.”