It’s worth noting that, shortly after his comments were aired, Holmes issued an apology.

“I want to clarify some comments that some of you may have misinterpreted from me… around conspiracy theories and coronavirus and this involved the roll out of 5G,” he said.

“Both Alice Beer and myself agreed in a discussion on this very programme on fake news that it is not true, and there is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be possibly dangerous.

“Every theory relating to such a connection has been proven to be false and we would like to emphasise that. ‘However, many people are rightly concerned and are looking for answers, and that’s simply what I was trying to impart yesterday but for the avoidance of any doubt I want to make it clear there’s no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories.”

How to prevent the spread of fake news

When checking the reliability of information online, Stop Hate UK advises that you consider the following:

Does the information come from a reliable source?
Have you read beyond the headline?
Is the author credible?
Have you clicked on the supporting sources to check their legitimacy?
When was the story originally published?
Could your own biases or beliefs be impacting your judgement?
Have you checked the facts? Remember, www.fullfact.org is a UK-based, independent and trusted site for fact-checking, and is an excellent place to start.

It’s worth noting that FullFact has stressed that there is “no evidence that 5G Networks are linked to the new coronavirus.”

Rachel Riley has a message for those spreading lies about coronavirus