Hong Kong -- A friend of a friend in Hong Kong recently said that he didn’t believe the novel coronavirus could be transferred from human to human through airborne droplets. The young, educated professional said this confidently, without irony, to a group of colleagues while wearing a disposable face mask. His source for the claim? A WhatsApp group message that cited an unknown doctor. I was stunned when my friend told me the story. An educated professional falling for such blatant misinformation? 

"For weeks I’d been dreaming of blue skies and the smell of eucalyptus in the air," writes Glenda Kwek, an Australia native on a post in India. "I was shivering through one of New Delhi’s coldest winters in a century and one of its worst air pollution seasons in recent years and all I could think about was upcoming Christmas trip home to Australia -- fresh air, soft, sand beaches warmed by the summer sun."

"The scene that greeted me was starkly different."