  As COVID-19 sweeps the globe, outcomes depend on effective relationships
between the public and decision-makers. In the UK there were uncivil tweets to
MPs about perceived UK tardiness to go into lockdown. The pandemic has led to
increased attention on ministers with a role in the crisis. However, generally
this surge has been civil. Prime minister Boris Johnson's severe illness with
COVID-19 resulted in an unusual peak of supportive responses on Twitter. Those
who receive more COVID-19 mentions in their replies tend to receive less abuse
(significant negative correlation). Following Mr Johnson's recovery, with
rising economic concerns and anger about lockdown violations by influential
figures, abuse levels began to rise in May. 1,902 replies to MPs within the
study period were found containing hashtags or terms that refute the existence
of the virus (e.g. #coronahoax, #coronabollocks, 0.04% of a total 4.7 million
replies, or 9% of the number of mentions of "stay home save lives" and
variants). These have tended to be more abusive. Evidence of some members of
the public believing in COVID-19 conspiracy theories was also found. Higher
abuse levels were associated with hashtags blaming China for the pandemic.
