Describe how would you convince skeptical people that the pandemic is not a hoax?

Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of incredible conspiracy theories.
Based on your knowledge of viruses’ characteristics and virulence, how would you convince skeptical people that the pandemic is not a hoax?

Use references and provide references from this book as well: Gerard J. Tortora, Berdell R. Funke, Christine L. Case – Microbiology_ an introduction-Pearson (2019)