Talk about the latest nuisance we all have to deal with, Coronavirus will certainly be on top of the list. The mayhem surrounding infectious diseases is not unknown to anyone. The pandemic that started with China has now got a grip over the entire world. Just as the COVID-19 cases are rising, so does various conspiracy theories associated with it. The outbreak that has brought the world to a halt is taking lives daily on one hand and fuelling weird and crazy theories stirring up controversies on the other.
We bring you theories that have been constructed amid the outbreak and causing tensions on a global scale. However, please note that they are merely theories and bear no actual evidence or proof. Readers may find these conspiracy theories over Novel Coronavirus appalling and laughable, which is what we intend. In case you hear these stories from unknown sources, do not take them seriously because conspiracy theories are meant to be enjoyed, right?
- Involvement of the United States
Rumour has it that it was not China but the United States that has created this infectious disease. During live news broadcasting, a Russian news channel claimed that Novel Coronavirus is actually developed by the USA to dismantle China’s growing economy. The news presenter also pointed out the fact that Corona means crown in Russian and Latin and the virus is also said to bear a crown-like shape. He also alleged that US President Donald Trump used to be a judge of several known beauty pageants and crowned the winners, which is why, the virus was named after crowns. This Coronavirus hoax has become the talk of the town with people engaging in adding more spice to this theory.
- Prediction in a Novel and a Movie
One theory that has been spreading like a wildfire over social media is how Coronavirus was predicted in a Novel ‘The Eyes of Darkness’ by Dean Koontz. As soon as the news of the outbreak broke, bibliophiles started pointing out to a particular passage from this book where a character named ‘Dombey’ narrates an account of a virus called ‘Wuhan-400’ that was developed at RDNA lab outside Wuhan city in China. But that’s not all, the photograph of the passage went viral overnight leaving netizens to freak out owing to eerie resemblance with present situation. The plot of the book is about a mother who attempts to find the whereabouts of her son who mysteriously got vanished on a camping trip. As the story unfolds, it is found that the boy was held in Wuhan, where the virus was originated.
Another theory supporting the prediction of this disease is the movie ‘Contagion’ directed by Steven Soderbergh that was released in 2011. The movie is about the discovery of a deadly virus that has spread over different parts of the world and how US CDC struggles to prevent its further spread. The plot of the movie is not only frightening but bears an uncanny resemblance to the global crisis we are encountering today.
- A Bio-Weapon by China
Chances are you might have heard or read of this widely circulating theory concerning Coronavirus already through social media. Do you believe that Coronavirus is indeed a bio-weapon created by China? We don’t know about you, but several people do. Unknown sources claim that Coronavirus has a deep connection with Canada. According to which, Chinese scientists working at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, Canada stole the virus reportedly developed at the aforesaid laboratory and were stripped off their access to the lab. These scientists then sent the virus to the lab in Wuhan, China where it ended up causing the outbreak. The alleged ‘policy breach’ also pointed out that the virus is a biological weapon created for future warfare, shall the need arise.
Notably, any type of chemical or biological weapons, its development, production and stockpiling is banned under the treaty signed at the Biological Weapons Convention.
- Is 5G connection in China to be blamed for Coronavirus?
Do you know Wuhan was one of the main cities in China to get a 5G network? Rumours of 5G connection and China gained steam on social media when a popular American singer tweeted about it. The tweet implied that Coronavirus was the outcome of the radiation waves released by 5G internet. A researcher named ‘Dana Ashlie’ also claimed 5G to be deadly for humans and alleged that the spread of Novel Coronavirus was actually the radiations caused by 5G networks. Other conspiracy theorists alleged that the viral video of people falling on the grounds in China was the effect of radio waves messing up with oxygen level of the public.
- Involvement of Bill Gates, Really?
To understand how Bill Gates came into this picture, you need to go back to October 2019 when the Bills and Melinda Gates Foundation collaborated with the World Economic Forum and John Hopkins Centre for Health Security. The collaboration was done to test how well equipped are we to handle an epidemic. As fate would have it, two months later, Coronavirus knocked at our doorsteps. The spokesperson at the Gates foundation has negated any potential connection between the billionaire and Coronavirus. Despite that, conspiracy theorists are leaving no stone unturned to continue speculating his involvement. Even John Hopkins Centre for Health Security has denied its link with such speculations.
- Eating Bats caused the Virus
The current working theory of Coronavirus suggests that the virus came from bats which are consumed in China as a delicacy. The inception of COVID-19 from the live animal market in Wuhan made conspiracy theorists believe that easting bat or bat soup by people of China cause the outbreak. A Chinese Travel Blogger, Mengyun received backlashes for uploading video of her eating bat soup and was accused of spreading the virus. Later on, she was made to apologize by the Chinese government for this incident. However, the girl says that the video was not shot in China but in an island nation in the Pacific Ocean and was shot many years before the virus made its appearance.
