The coronavirus pandemic has not only unleashed a deadly disease, taking hundreds and thousands of lives, it has also let loose a wave of conspiracy theories about the virus. In today’s ever-connected social networks, where misinformation spreads faster than actual facts, conspiracy theories pose as a dangerous threat that can put people at risk more.
Ever since the covid-19 worldwide outbreak, the internet has been flooded with bizarre (and inaccurate) information, alleging wild claims over the disease. To make sense of how our normal lives turned upside down in a matter of weeks, it’s easy to see why the plague of conspiracy narratives seem to take over the truth and scientific facts.
Conspiracy theories act as fillers to the gaps that science can’t explain or have satisfying answers for. The way the coronavirus pandemic has hit the world, creating almost a surreal scenario, it’s easy to understand why people would fall for such theories and false claims as a way to look for alternative answers.
Here we dunk some of the most common yet outrageous conspiracy theories running rampant around the internet about Covid-19.
Theory #1. Covid-19 is a bacteria and not a virus
Fact: It IS caused by a virus.
A video circulating in the world of WhatsApp, claimed that Italy, in their post-mortems work, found that the coronavirus is caused by a bacterium, and not a virus. The video narrates that the bacteria is also responsible for blood clotting, which hinders the flow of oxygen throughout the body.
However, many studies along with WHO has stated that the novel coronavirus IS a virus, not a bacteria. The virus called SARS-CoV-2, is an infectious disease and is similar to the to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV).
The theory’s claim that Covid-19 also leads to blood clotting may hold some truth. Quite a few studies, such as ‘Incidence of thrombotic complications in critically ill ICU patients with Covid-19’, and ‘Hematological findings and complications of Covid-19’ have found incidences of thrombotic complications and blood hypercoagulability in some Covid-19 patients. Therefore, it might be believable, upon more research that complications of blood clothing may occur in severe cases of Covid-19. But the initial claim of Covid-19 being caused by a bacteria is totally false.
Theory #2. The coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab
Fact: No, it was not. Nor it escaped the lab.
This is one of the most widespread theory about the virus- that the virus did not emerge naturally, but was created by Chinese scientists and then it escaped from the lab. This particular theory stemmed from Epoch Times, a news outlet, which insisted on calling the virus “the CCP virus” (Chinese Communist Party) virus to call out the political party that has long been persecuting Chinese religious cults.
The truth of the matter, however, is way off. Wuhan, being the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, also hosts a virology institute where researchers have been studying bat coronaviruses for a long time, along with other viruses. The laboratory where the researches were conducted is a ‘Level-4’ bio-laboratory, which has the highest level of bio-containment precautions to isolate dangerous biological agents. This is a universal standard set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So, chances of viruses escaping a Level-4 environment are extremely low.
The sheer coincidence of the lab studying bat coronaviruses being in the same city as the origin of the Covid-19 outbreak, it was not hard for people to try to find patterns, link the two together and make it seem like a viable theory.
Theory #3. GMOs are the cause of Covid-19
Fact: No, GMOs are not the cause of coronavirus
Genetically modified organisms are those organisms whose “genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature”.
Given the generation of GMOs, it’s not a surprise that even they have been made a target of clean-cut conspiracy theories. GMOs were blamed during the early stages of the outbreak, through an article, alleging “that GM crops cause genetic pollution that allows viruses to proliferate due to the resulting environmental “imbalance””. The conspiracy theorists have also went on a limb and blamed modern agriculture for the current scenario. Ironically, it is known that the path of the virus into the human population — as with Ebola, HIV and many others — was through the very ancient practice of people capturing and killing wildlife.
Theory #4. The virus is like a common cold
Fact: Coronavirus is not a common cold.
Another of the many rumours, is the belief that Covid-19 is no worse than a common cold. The novel coronavirus is not like a common cold. Not only the symptoms completely differ, coronavirus also has a mortality rate of about 2 percent, which the common cold does not.
The reason for people to get confused is because COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, an umbrella term used to describe a group of viruses including the common cold.
Theory #5. 5G networks help spread the virus faster
Fact: Mobile networks/radio waves have nothing to do with the virus.
If you are acquainted with basic biology, it won’t be hard to make you understand that it is biologically impossible for viruses to spread using the electromagnetic spectrum. COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not even have 5G mobile networks. Electromagnetic spectrum are waves or photons, while viruses are biological particles composed of proteins and nucleic acids.
The idea of blaming 5G networks works as a plausible story, since conspiracy theories tend to link two things which might appear to be correlated; in this case, the rapid rollout of 5G networks was taking place at the same time the pandemic hit. But even the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks.
So, how do you recognize such rumours and safeguard yourself from misinformation?
First and foremost, it is imperative that you are acquiring information from credible and verified sources and organizations. It is important to not allow myths and rumours to guide us during a crisis, but rather allow and trust the guidance of science and the global scientific community.
