Twitter to verify more health experts to fight misinformation

This comes at a time when the micro blogging site has taken aggressive steps to beat back a wave of hoaxes and other misinformation that's spread on social media in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

"PSA about what we're doing to Verify Twitter accounts that are providing credible updates around #COVID19: we are working with global public health authorities to identify experts and have already Verified hundreds of accounts, but there's more to do and we could use your help," the company tweeted on Saturday.

According to a timeline by Axios, it was December 10 when China reported first patient that started showing COVID-19 like symptoms.

The death toll from the new coronavirus has surpassed 5,000 in Europe, the new epicentre of the pandemic, with Italy, Spain and Germany reporting a steep rise in infections, as worldwide fatalities surged past 11,000 on Saturday.

An estimated 2,35,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus globally and close to 10,000 have been confirmed dead, according to the World Health Organization.