Fake news and data misreporting in the COVID-19 pandemic

9:20 AM - 9:55 AM

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it an ‘infodemic’. An overload of information, including false and misleading information about the virus.
This talk will outline some of the highs and lows of how COVID-19 statistics and research have been presented to the public. We’ll take a look at statistical slip-ups, biased reporting, and fake news –and the sometimes blurry lines between them. Dr Kerr will discuss some of the more common pitfalls of communicating risk and statistics which contribute to the infodemic.
So what do we do about it? Fortunately, there are potential solutions to some of the problems, we will look at several initiatives seeking to address the communication challenges arising from the pandemic.