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Put Your Tin-Foil Hats On! Debunking COVID-19 Related Conspiracy Theories And Myths

by — Last updated: 2020-08-11 in Respiratory tract disorders and diseases

From psychics predicting the new pandemic, to mind-control facilitated via 5G networks, we analyze the most hilarious, as well as potentially dangerous hoaxes circulating the internet these days.

Nowadays, the only thing that seems to be spreading faster than the COVID-19 pandemic itself is information related to it.

While most of the COVID-19-related information you will read on reputable news sites, such as the results of numerous studies regarding prevention and cure development, help in the process of flattening the curve, the increasing amount false information about COVID-19 suggest that there may be a reason to be worried. Especially in this day and age, where health-related tweets from celebrities and other “know-it-alls” have a higher reach and impact than peer-reviewed scientific articles, it is all too easy to fall victim to misinformation.

We’ll take a look at some of the most viral (see what I did there?) conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 — some of them benign memes created for a few likes to pass the dull time in lockdown, others dangerous vectors in the spread of paranoia and ignorance, thereby potentially presenting serious risks to public health.

1. SARS-CoV-2 was artificially created

First, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: SARS-Cov-2 originated through natural processes, and there isn’t any evidence that the coronavirus that is taking the world by storm was intentionally created in Chinese, Russian, US, or any other laboratories.

Although a group of scientists did write an article about the presence of a large reservoir of viruses similar to the 2003 SARS-CoV with a potential human emergence back in 2007, this is just a result of hard scientific work backed up with a lot of data.

Coronaviruses, discovered in the sixties, have been around for a few thousand years, and while some of these coronaviruses cause symptoms similar to the common cold, others have mutated (or evolved, if you like), due to natural selection.

When scientists studied the novel coronavirus, in computer simulations they couldn’t artificially create it from any of its known “cousins”, such as the 2003. SARS-CoV. This time, nature showed that it was smarter than scientists. Just remember that quote from Jurassic Park – “Life finds a way”.

The main problem with this COVID-19 conspiracy theory is that it is extremely dangerous, because governments tend to utilize it as a part of psychological warfare, with a similar scenario occurring during the Korean war. I won’t analyze each government’s reasons for contributing to the spread of dangerous misinformation, though they range from economical to dictatorial, but its consequences can potentially prove to be extremely dangerous. The world is already arguably more polarized than it has been for a long time.

2. Eating bats (or other exotic animals) caused the coronavirus to spread

Some mainstream media companies, most of them tabloids, have shared a video of people eating bat soup, so the theory that eating bats or other animals people in the West do not commonly consume emerged.

Although there is data to imply that coronaviruses evolved together with bats, meaning that bats are the main host, the virus somehow transferred to people. Whether some mutations directly caused the virus to become infectious to humans, or there is a different host bridging this gap, remains to be determined, but eating bat soup is one of the least reasonable ways. The same goes for the now famous seafood market story.

These kinds of assumptions further polarize the world. Stereotypes about Chinese people and their eating and hygiene habits have led to serious problems when the news about the novel virus hit the media, creating problems not just for Chinese industry (which is a global political and economic force), but for people of Chinese origins all over the world, leading even to violence and discrimination.

3. Garlic, vitamin C, coconut oil, liquor, cocaine, or drinking urine are effective COVID-19 remedies

The internet, and probably your neighbors, have already told you about the best home remedies already available in your grocery store, pharmacy, or maybe a local drug dealer. The thing is, while some of these so-called remedies, such as garlic or vitamin C do boost your immunity and help protect you from a common cold, there isn't any evidence that any of these substances can cure COVID-19.

Cocaine and urine consumption, on the other hand, definitely won’t help you against any infectious diseases, and it’s safe to say that any further explanation why this is bad for you is redundant.

Until the vaccine is ready (which may take some time), the most effective thing to do in avoiding SARS-CoV-2 is to practice social distancing, and wash your hands. This doesn't mean that eating garlic or taking care to meet your daily vitamin C requirements is bad, of course — but these things will not act as armor against COVID-19.

4. The coronavirus was predicted by __________

Whether it was Nostradamus, the Simpsons, Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 movie Contagion, or the 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness by author Dean Koontz, people can’t help but search for clues that they interpret as this pandemic “being in front of our eyes all this time”.

Nostradamus’ writings have been interpreted in many ways, and because they’re mostly ambiguous, those interpretations are very “creative”, to put it that way, and if you look hard enough, you could probably find evidence for everything that has ever happened.

“The Simpsons already did it” theory shared on social networks used three pictures from the 21st episode of the series’ fourth season, tackled with the “Osaka flu”, a reference to the 1968/’69 Hong Kong flu epidemic, according to the authors, while the fourth picture (badly) photoshopped “Coronavirus” over “Apocalypse Meow”, an episode aired almost 18 years later.

Koontz’s novel mentions a biological weapon called “Wuhan-400” (even called Gorki-400 in the original edition), and other than that it shares the name with the city (housing a microbiology research institute facility since 1956), in which the current pandemic started, the fictitious disease has nothing in common with the current coronavirus.

And although some of the things mentioned in these pieces of fiction sound eerily familiar to what’s happening today, keep in mind that viruses and infections in general have existed since the dawn of time, and as such serve as an inspiration to authors, especially ones invested in the sci-fi and horror genres.

While we’re still here, if you’re into literature, my personal recommendation would be the 1983. novel “Rabies”, written by Borislav Pekić, a Serbian author, about a new mysterious disease emerging in Heathrow airport. Although there are no conspiracies related to the current pandemic, it’s an excellent analysis of a similar “what if?” situation.

5. COVID-19 has to do something with 5G networks

One of the craziest theories out there is that COVID-19 was caused by or spread through 5G waves, which imitate the effects of viruses. This theory goes even deeper with viral posts that the imposed quarantine and curfews worldwide were created as a cover-up so that internet companies could install 5G antennas all over the world without anyone complaining, in order to create some kind of “New World Order”. Some theorists even argue that 5G is used to control the artificially-created virus, either as a means of population control, or even mind-reading.

As for the adverse health effects of 5G, numerous studies have already tackled this issue, and the conclusion is that there aren’t any known mechanisms for most forms of non-ionizing radiation (such as 5G) to have any biological effects.

6. Aliens! (or any other otherworldly, ethereal and mystical causes)

Some theorists argue that the virus was brought on a meteorite that crashed onto the Earth's surface, disregarding the fact such that the heat during the entrance of meteorites into our atmosphere is much higher than the temperature on which the virus particles die. Also, COVID's close relatives, SARS and MERS, are known to originate on Earth.

Times of crisis have always attracted all kinds of “prophets”, calling on people to repent to “save your souls” in exchange for some cash. Unfortunately, in these times it’s easy to exploit not just gullible people, but all individuals grasping for any kind of straw of hope.

7. COVID-19 is a scheme for companies to sell more products!

Whether we talk about pharmaceutical companies, or even Bill Gates releasing the virus to sell vaccines, a scheme that hand sanitizers would sell more, or even home streaming services creating PR stunts so the people would stay at home and watch their programs, it is still less than plausible that these companies, no matter how profit-oriented, would outright kill thousands of people for a few dollars more on their account.

Not to mention the fact that COVID-19 has plunged the world into a global recession, which is certainly decidedly unprofitable.

The thing is, people are afraid of things they don’t understand. If the information given to them is too complex, they tend to reject it, and search for something more fathomable. Times of crisis bring an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness, especially when you are fighting an “invisible” enemy like COVID-19. The main problem here is that people generally don’t like randomness — they demand cause, and if they don’t understand the chaos that surrounds them, they will try to find a pattern or an explanation that they can relate to.

Conspiracy theories, on the other hand, give people a certain sense of control, and social (and traditional) media can help them by (falsely) reassuring them that there is always someone out there to blame. This also can lead to a lack of trust, especially in modern medicine, which may lead to people disregarding accurate information and ultimately making things even worse.

Our purpose and goal, as scientists, is to explain the situation with the help of proof, data, and valid information available to everyone. Only scientific articles and those thoroughly backed up by scientific sources you can check out for yourself should serve as a valid source of information. Science can be difficult to understand, but it's the main weapon in that other battle, the one against misinformation.  

Finally, I haven’t mentioned antivaxxers yet, because they deserve an article dedicated just for their ludicrous and absurd theories. However (and unfortunately), this is their chance to see how the world functions without vaccines.

  • Photo courtesy of SteadyHealth