Spam reacts quickest of all
Say what you will about the people that send spam, but they certainly react quickly to changing topics.
This is a breakdown of the spam that I received in roughly a five day period between March 19th and 24th. I did some grouping of the topics together, but the trend is clear.
Come to think of it some of the earliest indications that I got about the coming pandemic was from my “junk” folder. I certainly saw more talk of “Coronavirus” in spam than in the mainstream media early on (NPR being a notable exception).
Note: All of this was delivered to my “junk” folder, I get very little spam that actually makes it to the inbox. I hope that continues.