The global COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a daunting array of baseless speculation about its origins. Uncertain times are fertile ground for disinformation, and conspiracy theories can have serious consequences — not only for individuals who believe them, but for public health in general.
The most popular conspiracy belief is related to a theory that received extensive media coverage: that the coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.
The second most popular conspiracy theory is that the Chinese government engineered the coronavirus in a lab, which nearly 1 in 5 Canadians believe.