The novel coronavirus has swept across the globe, infecting over 80,000 and taking 2,600 lives. The disease, now known as COVID-19, is on the verge of breaking into a full-blown pandemic. As the World Health Organization tells countries to prepare for infections, popular conservative host Rush Limbaugh revealed what he claimed to be the “truth” about the “overhyped” coronavirus to his listeners on Monday.

“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” Limbaugh said. “Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient went on a 10-minute diatribe on the novel coronavirus that others have accused of being “reckless,” airing thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories and disinformation about the disease to millions of his listeners.

Limbaugh began his tirade by resurfacing a widely-debunked conspiracy theory that the coronavirus is a Chinese biological weapon that leaked from a government lab in Wuhan – a false narrative that was also shared by GOP Senator Tom Cotton.

He then speculated about an elaborate scheme by the Chinese government in which they "weaponized [the virus] by virtue of the media," which he claimed overhyped the deadliness of the disease, now known as COVID-19.

"It's really being hyped as a deadly Andromeda Strain or Ebola pandemic that, 'Oh, my God, is going to wipe out the nation. It's going to wipe out the population of the world,'" Limbaugh said. "It's exactly how the media deals with these things to create audience, readership, interest, clicks, what have you."

Although Limbaugh was correct in his claim that the flu has a higher mortality rate than that of the coronavirus, he erroneously downplayed the threat of the coronavirus.

Public health officials are concerned about the containment of the virus for which there is no vaccine. It also remains unclear exactly how the disease is transmitted, although it is thought to be spread mainly from person to person, according to WHO.COVID-19 has rapidly spread to at least 37 countries with 53 cases in the US, including 36 passengers from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan.

Police in protective gear wait to evacuate residents from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Hong Kong, China February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Foto: Police officers in protective gear in Hong Kong waiting to evacuate residents from a public-housing building following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.sourceReuters

He also falsely accused news organizations of using the death of whistleblower Li Wenliang, the doctor who raised alarms about the virus in the early days of the outbreak, to instill fear in their audiences, and claimed spread of the virus was a Chinese tactic to destroy the American economy.

"It's to scare people into leaving, cashing out of the stock market. So losing a few people here or there is not so bad for the Chinese government," Limbaugh said. Limbaugh ended the segment stoking Cold War-era fears, falsely accusing presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who identifies as a "democratic socialist" of trying to turn America into a "mirror image" of "Communist China."

At least one conservative pundit responded to Limbaugh's claims with criticism. Charlie Sykes, who founded the conservative site Bulwark, called Limbaugh's diatribe on the coronavirus "stunningly reckless."

While Twitter directs users to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for accurate information about COVID-19, Facebook has vowed to actively take down misinformation on its platform.