While the coronavirus infects celebrities and ordinary people alike, entire countries are going into quarantine, and Russians are slowly stocking up on food, theories about how Covid-19 originated and who benefits from it are mushrooming. We present the top 10 conspiracy theories and myths related to the coronavirus.
10. Bill Gates did it
If you're wondering how Bill Gates fits into the coronavirus story, let's go back to October 2019. That month, Bill and Melinda Gates, along with the World Economic Forum and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, conducted a pandemic exercise called "Event 201," simulating a large-scale coronavirus outbreak.
Ironically, the COVID-19 virus emerged two months after this test. Conspiracy theorists believe the program was merely a prelude to the coming epidemic, jointly planned by these three organizations.
9. The bats eaten by the Chinese are to blame
According to the most widespread theory about the origin of the coronavirus, it all began in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. There, you can buy not only seafood but also live and dead animals, including bats – probable carriers of COVID-19.
Consequently, social media reports suggested that the spread of the disease was due to some Chinese people's penchant for eating bats. This hypothesis was supported by a number of viral videos showing people allegedly greedily devouring bats or bat soup.
However, there is no evidence that eating bats was the source of the coronavirus outbreak. In fact, one study even links the Wuhan coronavirus to snakes.
8. It's because of 5G internet.
Wuhan was one of the first Chinese cities to introduce 5G mobile internet. It also became the first city where the coronavirus began spreading. "Coincidence? I don't think so!" Dana Ashley, one of the conspiracy theorists, tells us.
She believes the COVID-19 virus was triggered by waves emitted by 5G towers. Ashley based her opinion on a 2000 study that found the 5G network to be dangerous to human health. Ashley argues that the so-called coronavirus is actually radiation poisoning, which weakens the immune system and makes people more vulnerable to disease.
7. Pharmaceutical companies created SARS-CoV-2
The coronavirus epidemic has become a boon for pharmaceutical companies. They are the obvious beneficiaries, which means they've become the focus of conspiracy theorists. One such theory posits that all the hype surrounding the coronavirus is deliberate panic-mongering, with major players in the global pharmaceutical market being the main PR proponents.
The world witnessed something similar in 2009, when the hysteria surrounding the spread of swine flu swine flu raged. At the time, Roche ran a massive advertising campaign for Tamiflu, earning around $1 billion.
This year, the manufacturer of Arbidol has already declared its drug effective against the coronavirus. How much money will they make from this? Who knows?
6. The Canadian government is involved
Although this theory is less popular than the theory that the coronavirus originated in China or the United States, it does have merit. Therefore, we must tell you about it. It is believed that the COVID-19 virus was created at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada. This facility, like the Chinese laboratory in Wuhan, studies deadly viruses.
Some conspiracy theorists believe that Chinese spies stole the virus and sent it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where it eventually caused the epidemic.
5. The Chinese did everything.
One of the most popular conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus is that Covid-19 was created as a biological weapon and commissioned by the Chinese government.
However, the virus then escaped from a research laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology due to a breach of safety protocol.
Another version of this rumor claims that the virus was studied in a laboratory (after being identified in animals), but the ending of this story is completely consistent with the first version.
Some experts simply scoff at the theory that the coronavirus is a biological weapon. Such a weapon makes no sense, as COVID-19 does not always cause death or severe complications, and there are far more dangerous pathogens. For example, Ebola, Lassa fever, or Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which have a mortality rate of 30 to 50 percent. By comparison, the global mortality rate for COVID-19 is about 3 percent.
4. Americans created Covid-19
One of the wild theories surrounding the origins of the coronavirus is that it was created by order of the US government to destroy China's economy. It was spread by American military personnel who arrived in China back in October 2019.
It must be said that all economies around the world are suffering from Covid-19, including the United States. Five industries have been hit hardest by the coronavirus.
Others link the Covid-19 epidemic to the fact that thousands of Americans developed lung disease last year. E-cigarettes were blamed for this. Conspiracy theorists believe this outbreak was merely a cover for the new coronavirus.
3. The Simpsons predicted the coronavirus
Enterprising "conspiracy sleuths" often dig very deep and find warnings and hints about current events in various written sources, films, and even animated series such as "The Simpsons.".
Since The Simpsons is one of the longest-running animated series, remaining popular for over 30 years, it is a treasure trove of conspiracy theories.
Case in point: Episode 21 of Season 4 (filmed in 1993) focuses on the outbreak of a mysterious disease called the Osaka Flu. Osaka is in Japan, not China, but a great show can forgive minor errors, right?
2. Dean Koontz predicted coronavirus
The coronavirus was "discovered" in the 1981 novel "The Eyes of Darkness" by science fiction writer Dean Koontz. It tells the story of a global epidemic caused by the Wuhan-400 virus, created in a Chinese military laboratory.
However, the chorus of voices claiming Koontz was a prophet quickly died down when it was revealed that the year 2020 wasn't mentioned at all in the novel, the fatality rate of the "book contagion" was 100%, and the screenshot of the page that circulated online was taken from a collection of prophecies by Sylvia Browne, a self-proclaimed medium and psychic. She did indeed predict an outbreak of disease in 2020, though not of coronavirus, but of pneumonia.
In the original text of Koontz's book, the virus was created not by the Chinese, but by the Soviet military, and was called "Gorki-400." From the former USSR, it migrated to China, and at the same time, changed its name, in the 2008 edition published by Berkley. Americans had long known that Wuhan housed a virus research lab, and the USSR no longer existed, which is likely why the virus in the book changed its location and "name.".
1. The coronavirus came from space.
On the night of October 10-11, 2019, the sky over northeastern China was lit up by a bright flash due to an exploding meteorite.
Conspiracy theorists have taken notice of this incident, believing that the coronavirus came to Earth from outer space. Moreover, this claim was made not by some anonymous British scientist, but by Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology.
However, other scientists believe this is unlikely, as the meteorite did not fall to Earth, and even if it had, the virus would not have survived the extreme temperatures of its landing. Meteors that do not burn up in the atmosphere can reach temperatures of up to 650°C by the time they touch down. This is more than enough to kill the coronavirus, which cannot tolerate temperatures above 40°C.