6 things we’ve learned from a year of misinformation about the coronavirus

One year ago, Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The NBA suspended its season. About 1,000 Americans were infected, and the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.

Today, more than 500,000 Americans are dead from COVID-19. The country is recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Schools and colleges, many shuttered since last spring, are slowly reopening. Playing in the background: a symphony of falsehoods downplaying and denying the severity of the pandemic.

Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in...