New York (CNN Business) Two polls released this week show the troubling effects that weeks of dismissive and conspiratorial coverage of the novel coronavirus from Fox News and other right-wing media outlets and personalities had on the American public.

Since President Donald Trump adopted a more somber approach toward combatting the virus, addressing the nation from the Oval Office and declaring a national emergency, top hosts on Fox News and in conservative media have taken the pandemic significantly more seriously.

But prior to that, right-wing media spent weeks downplaying concerns about the virus.

These right-wing personalities — such as Fox News' Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and talk radio host Rush Limbaugh — told their audiences that news coverage of the virus was hysterical and aimed at hurting Trump politically. The often-dismissive messaging from Fox News hosts was notable, given that the viewers who make up the network's audience skew older and are, thus, more vulnerable to the disease.

In other cases, right-wing media personalities and outlets went further. Limbaugh, among others, floated a conspiracy theory that the virus was created in a Chinese lab -- despite having no real evidence to support the allegation.

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