ABSTRACT
First detected in Wuhan, China, a pneumonia of an unknown cause was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in China on 31 December 2019. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020 and on 11 February 2020, the WHO announced a name for the new coronavirus disease: Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19), the word that will define 2020 for many of us. Covid-19 is the name of the infectious disease caused by the virus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. This chapter briefly documents the rise of misinformation and disinformation related to Covid-19 to date and considers some attempts to thwart it, along with offering suggestions for future work and discussion. Scientists around the world have mobilised, formed new collaborations and redirected their research agendas to help support the response to Covid-19.
