As of end-September 2020, over 32 million people were reported to have been infected by COVID-19 and nearly 1 million people have lost their lives from the disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the state of the global economy, people’s livelihoods and health. Although COVID-19 has mostly affected the elder generation’s health, it has also disproportionately affected youth (aged 30 and below) and their access to education and work opportunities. The health crisis and lockdowns in effect across the globe fuelled the spread of misinformation pertaining to COVID-19 and consequently, made it difficult for health authorities to deliver credible, accurate information for populations to take the necessary steps to protect their families. Moreover, the spread of misinformation in this era of social media has also resulted in a peak in the number of reported mental health cases all around the world.

This project was established to investigate the impact of this ongoing health crisis and the spread of misinformation on youth; and their attitude or outlook to their future prospects. It was done in conjunction with three other youth organizations namely the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), the #MoreViralThanTheVirus movement and the Health and Information Literacy Access Alliance (HILA Alliance - GAPMIL/UNESCO) and received technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNESCO. To investigate this impact, the Copenhagen Hub has created a survey and published its findings in the form of a report.