Multiplex network reconstruction for the coupled spatial diffusion of infodemic and pandemic of COVID-19

The pandemic of COVID-19 witnessed a massive infodemic with the public being bombarded with vast quantities of information. The spreading of neutral and highly accurate reports can guide the public to self-protect and reduce the pandemic. Mis- and dis-information would intrigue panic and high exposure risk to epidemic. Although the infodemic has attracted attentions from the academia, it is still not known to what degree and in which direction the information flows contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic. To fill the gap, we apply network reconstruction techniques to rebuild the hidden multiplex network of information and COVID-19 spreading by which we aim at quantifying the interaction between the propagation of information and the spatial outbreak of COVID-19, and delineate between the positive and negative impact of information on the pandemic. By differentiating the types of media that participated in the information process, we find that in the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic, infodemic does play a critical role to amplify the risk of virus outbreak in China and the risk is even larger for those highly developed regions. Compared to the old-fashion media, the new mobile platforms impose a greater risk to reinforce the positive feedback between infodemic and COVID-19 pandemic.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive infodemic where the spread of accurate information can help reduce the virus outbreak, while misinformation can increase panic and risk of exposure. By reconstructing the multiplex network of information and COVID-19 spreading, it was found that infodemic played a critical role in amplifying the risk of virus outbreak, especially in highly developed regions, and new mobile platforms pose a greater risk by reinforcing the positive feedback loop between infodemic and pandemic.