coronoia

Noun

coronoia (uncountable)

1. Unfounded fear surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19, which may include fear of the spread of the virus or fear of governmental conspiracies in the reaction to the virus.
   • Writing this piece, just when I thought I needed to forge a new word ‘Coronoia’, to suitably denote the exponential spread of irrational fears of this novel virus, I found that it has recently been suggested to the Collins dictionary, and is under consideration.[2020 April 18, Anita Rampal, “We Are Fighting an Infodemic in the Time of 'Coronoia'”, in The Wire
   • Leaving home felt risky at first, our senses haunted by coronoia, the daily infodemic, the doughnut dreams. (Hang on - where's my mask?) Since often we'd forget that sacred cloth, suffering a brain fade on the doormat, enforcing a respirouette.2021 November 6, “Coronaspeak so contagious it'll outlast covidiots”, in Sydney Morning Herald, page 11