Despite pledges from the big social media companies to remove dangerous coronavirus misinformation, from false causes to false cures, Silicon Valley and fact-checkers around the world are struggling to stem the flow of false claims about the pandemic.
Just this week, a viral video clocked up millions of views and clicks across Facebook and YouTube before the companies took action.
"I've not seen a video of this type gain this kind of viral traction so quickly," Alan Duke, the editor in chief of Lead Stories, a fact-checking group that works with Facebook told CNN Thursday.
Experts in tracking disinformation told CNN that different groups that push conspiracy theories, like QAnon and anti-vaccine activists, have found common ground in peddling false and misleading claims about COVID-19.
Here's an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
- An Associated Press analysis found that 17 states appeared to have not met one of the key benchmarks set by the White House for easing lockdowns — a 14-day downward trajectory in new infections or positive test rates.
- The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record.
- European leaders held muted commemorations Friday to mark the end of World War II on the continent, as coronavirus lockdowns kept crowds from celebrating VE Day.
- Health experts say every nation will see some type of second wave of infections after their lockdowns ease.
- Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 3.8 million people and killed nearly 270,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University based on official data.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has repeatedly found its suggestions for fighting the coronavirus outbreak taking a backseat to other concerns within the Trump administration. That leaves public health experts outside government fearing the agency’s decades of experience in beating back disease threats are going to waste.
- For Californians venturing outside, donning a mask will be as common as putting on a cap or sunglasses when the state begins gradually easing stay-at-home orders on Friday. But rules about face coverings vary from county to county, and it's unclear what enforcement might look like.
- Whenever baseball returns after the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there’s an element that might come into play like never before: the sound of silence.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest numbers from the US and around the world.
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