tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/coronavirus-myths-84063/articlesCoronavirus myths – The Conversation2021-01-13T19:11:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1527512021-01-13T19:11:55Z2021-01-13T19:11:55ZHow China is controlling the COVID origins narrative — silencing critics and locking up dissenters<p>Just over a year has gone by since the novel coronavirus <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/don/12-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-china/en/">first emerged</a> in the Chinese city of Wuhan and the world still has many questions about where and how it originated. </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-11/who-experts-arriving-in-china-for-coronavirus-origin-probe/13049100">sending a team to China</a> this week to investigate the origins of the virus — which has now claimed <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/">nearly 2 million</a> lives globally — but one health expert warns expectations for the visit should be set “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/china-agrees-to-let-in-who-team-investigating-covid-origins">very low</a>”.</p>
<p>The Chinese government has greatly restrained any attempts to investigate the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-s-top-secret-search-for-the-origins-of-coronavirus-20210102-p56rar.html">origins of COVID-19</a> — both internally and by foreign experts — while at the same time <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/06/world/asia/china-covid-origin-falsehoods.html">advocating alternate theories</a> that the pandemic originated elsewhere. </p>
<p>The top leadership sees <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3115886/coronavirus-tributes-pour-li-wenliang-chinese-doctor-who-first">control over this narrative</a> as vital to its hold over the Chinese population and the boosting of its international reputation. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/murky-origins-why-china-will-never-welcome-a-global-inquiry-into-the-source-of-covid-19-136713">Murky origins: why China will never welcome a global inquiry into the source of COVID-19</a>
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<p>The stakes could not be higher because Beijing has <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3115555/chinas-coronavirus-success-boosts-confidence-its-system-best">presented</a> the Communist Party’s strong, centralised rule as the key to the country’s success at controlling the pandemic and reviving its economy. </p>
<p>This has been contrasted with disastrous efforts to control the disease in the US under the Trump administration. The state-run Global Times has called the US a “<a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1209123.shtml">living hell</a>”.</p>
<p>Against this backdrop, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-who/china-doubles-down-on-covid-narrative-as-who-investigation-looms-idUSKBN29A0LU">Yanzhong Huang</a>, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, says the WHO investigation team </p>
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<p>will have to be politically savvy and draw conclusions that are acceptable to all the major parties.</p>
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<h2>Citizen journalists disappear after reporting the truth</h2>
<p>Part of controlling the Communist Party narrative has entailed the detention of many citizen journalists who sounded the alarm about the virus in its early days, exposed the government’s attempts to cover it up and criticised its early response to control it.</p>
<p>In late December, one of these independent journalists, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3115749/eu-demands-china-release-citizen-reporter-zhang-zhan-and-12">Zhang Zhan</a>, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. </p>
<p>A former lawyer, Zhang travelled to Wuhan in February to talk to people about how they were coping in lockdown. She shared videos and talked about what she observed, at one point <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-coronavirus-wuhan-citizen-journalist-zhang-zhan-detained-may-not-survive/">noting</a> the fear people felt toward the government was actually greater than their fear of the virus.</p>
<p>In an interview before her detention, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3115749/eu-demands-china-release-citizen-reporter-zhang-zhan-and-12">she said</a></p>
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<p>Maybe I have a rebellious soul … I’m just documenting the truth. Why can’t I show the truth? </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Some of Zhang’s video reports from Wuhan.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Zhang is just one of many critics whom the government has attempted to silence. </p>
<p>Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun was <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rot-goes-right-up-to-beijing-why-detained-professor-xu-zhangrun-is-such-a-threat-to-chinas-leadership-142074">detained by police</a> for a week after writing articles critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and then fired from his position at a university. He remains under surveillance and has been banned from leaving Beijing, but he <a href="https://supchina.com/2020/12/17/cyclopes-on-my-doorstep/">continues to write</a>.</p>
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<p>Others have simply disappeared. The outspoken lawyer and citizen journalist <a href="https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/dont-forget-chen-qiushi-friend-chinese-journalist-says?amp">Chen Qiushi</a> went missing in February after reporting from Wuhan and didn’t reappear until late September. He also remained under “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-54277439">strict supervision</a>” by the authorities. </p>
<p>And Wuhan businessman <a href="https://qz.com/1801361/wuhan-virus-citizen-journalists-fang-bin-chen-qiushi-go-missing/">Fang Bin</a>, who was detained in early February after <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgMzy-5f-qw">posting videos purporting to show COVID victims</a> inside hospitals, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/06/china-seekers-covid-19-redress-harassed">hasn’t been heard from since</a>.</p>
<h2>Using the security system and courts to target civil society</h2>
<p>Under Xi’s leadership, the Communist Party has become increasingly vigorous in guarding the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3553049">official propaganda</a> around party ideology and Xi’s rule from any form of criticism. </p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-08/20/c_117021464_3.htm">Xi emphasised in a 2013 speech</a> the importance of the propaganda and “ideological leadership” to the country, the pandemic has allowed China’s party-state to extend its ideological control over the courts, eliminating any pretence of judicial autonomy. </p>
<p>This manipulation of rule-of-law institutions can be seen in the prosecution of citizen journalists like Zhang Zhan and anyone else who questions or criticises the official party line. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/china-has-a-new-way-to-exert-political-pressure-weaponising-its-courts-against-foreigners-141195">China has a new way to exert political pressure: weaponising its courts against foreigners</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14672715.2016.1263803">Marxist scholars</a> and <a href="http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2017/MAGAZINES_0307/7571.html">party propagandists</a> argue there are no contradictions between party ideology and “rule of law”. In China, they say, there is no need for a legal separation of powers to ensure justice because the party is the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40803-015-0003-9">ultimate expression of the people’s will</a> when it comes to law and order. </p>
<p>In essence, the Communist Party <em>is</em> the rule of law, with Chinese characteristics.</p>
<p>The party has long used the security system and courts in this way to “kill chickens to scare monkeys” (a Chinese idiom meaning to punish an individual as an example to others). </p>
<p>In the past, the targets have typically been prominent political dissidents, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo">Liu Xiaobo</a> and <a href="https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/wei-jingsheng/">Wei Jingsheng</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/world/asia/china-crackdown-human-rights-lawyers.html">human rights lawyers</a>.</p>
<p>What is new and disturbing is the use of this tactic to eradicate <em>all</em> dissent and perceived threats to the party’s rule from civil society. Those targeted in recent years include <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-democracy-peddler-yang-hengjun-has-been-detained-in-china-and-why-he-must-be-released-120751">Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/31/hong-kong-activist-jimmy-lai-returned-to-jail-until-at-least-february">Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-53980706">Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei</a>, as well as many <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-has-a-new-way-to-exert-political-pressure-weaponising-its-courts-against-foreigners-141195">foreigners</a>.</p>
<h2>Forced silence does not mean public belief</h2>
<p>This domestic political context makes it unlikely the WHO researchers will be allowed to fully investigate all hypotheses as to the origins of the coronavirus, such as the claim it could have been caused by a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. </p>
<p>Although China’s so-called “<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/">Bat Woman</a>”, virologist Shi Zhengli, has said she’d <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55364445">welcome a visit</a> by the WHO team to the lab, leaked government documents tell another story.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/re-creating-live-animal-markets-in-the-lab-lets-researchers-see-how-pathogens-like-coronavirus-jump-species-130773">Re-creating live-animal markets in the lab lets researchers see how pathogens like coronavirus jump species</a>
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<p>According to the documents, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-s-top-secret-search-for-the-origins-of-coronavirus-20210102-p56rar.html">published by the Associated Press</a> this month, the government is monitoring scientists’ findings and requiring any research to be approved by a new task force under Xi’s direct command before publication. </p>
<p>Zhang’s case reveals how challenges to official narratives are now being dealt with in China. It also shows that Chinese citizens do not always find official narratives convincing and propagandists cannot force them to believe in ideology. The forced silencing of critics does not equate to people believing in the official party line. </p>
<p>With the origins of COVID-19, China’s citizens — and the world — deserve truth, not politically convenient spin.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152751/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The stakes are high for China as WHO teams arrive to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing has presented a success story to the world — and will not accept any criticism.John Garrick, University Fellow in Law, Charles Darwin UniversityYan Bennett, Assistant Director, Princeton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1517182020-12-27T22:03:12Z2020-12-27T22:03:12ZCharles Dickens wrote about the diphtheria crisis of 1856 – and it all sounds very familiar<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373864/original/file-20201209-18-1b1d05w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C314%2C2914%2C1778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Charles Dickens in his study at Gads Hill Place, England. Line engraving by Samuel Hollyer, 1875.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/charles-dickens-18121870-his-study-gads-239399452">Shutterstock/EverettCollection</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A strange and frightening disease is killing people across the world. Medical opinion is divided and it’s very difficult to get an accurate picture of what is going on. The authorities are trying to avoid a panic, travel has been disrupted and fake news is rife. All this was happening when Charles Dickens <a href="https://dickensletters.com/letters/joseph-olliffe-24-aug-1856">picked up his pen</a> in August, 1856, to write a letter to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/1/5441/1063">Sir Joseph Olliffe</a>, physician to the British embassy in Paris. </p>
<p>I recently discovered the letter during <a href="https://dickensletters.com/">my research</a> into the great writer’s lifetime of correspondence. In it Dickens thanked the doctor for alerting him to an outbreak of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diphtheria/">diphtheria</a> in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the coast of northern France while he was on holiday there. Three of the writer’s sons were actually in school there at the time and were getting ready for the new term. Dickens told the physician: “I have no doubt of our being in the healthiest situation here, and in the purest house. Still, if you were to order us off – we should obey.”</p>
<p>Diphtheria was then little known and referred to by the public as “malignant sore throat”, “Boulogne sore throat”, or “Boulogne fever”. Its scientific name, diphtheria, was conceived by <a href="https://ftp.historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/pierre-bretonneau">Pierre Bretonneau</a> and referred to the leathery membrane that develops in the larynx as a result of bacterial infection. It was dangerous, contagious and <a href="https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline/diphtheria">often fatal</a>. The disease spreads in the same way as <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-coronavirus-spread-4-metres-136239">COVID-19</a> – by direct contact or respiratory droplets.</p>
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<img alt="Photo of a letter written by Charles Dickens" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373869/original/file-20201209-18-vr20et.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Dickens letter to James Olliffe, dated August 24, 1856.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James McGrath Morris</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>In the letter, Dickens highlighted the case of Dr Philip Crampton. He was on holiday in Boulogne at around the same time as Dickens when two of his sons, aged two and six, and his 39-year-old wife all died within a week of each other of diphtheria. Dickens wrote:</p>
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<p>I had no idea of anything so terrible as poor Dr Crampton’s experience.</p>
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<p>With the spread of the contagion across the channel from France to England, scientific investigations accelerated and <a href="https://archive.org/details/ondiphtheria00gree/page/n7/mode/2up">by 1860</a> – four years after its first detection in England – the history, symptoms and communicability of the disease were more fully understood.</p>
<p>Boulogne was then a favourite haunt of the English, who numbered 10,000 (a quarter of the population) in the 1850s. Dickens <a href="https://lesyeuxdanslahune.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/dickens-in-boulogne/">liked the town</a> which he called “as quaint, picturesque, good a place as I know”, because he could remain relatively anonymous. He could enjoy the pleasant summer weather which was conducive to his work. Boulogne could be reached from London in about five hours, via the train and the ferry from Folkestone, which sailed twice daily.</p>
<p>He wrote portions of Bleak House, Hard Times and Little Dorrit there and made it the focus of his journalistic piece, <a href="http://www.djo.org.uk/media/downloads/articles/2629_Our%20French%20Watering-Place.pdf">Our French Watering-Place</a>, published in his journal Household Words. Dickens developed a warm relationship with his French landlord, Ferdiand Beaucourt-Mutuel, who provided him with excellent accommodation – both in Boulogne and, in later years, in the hamlet of <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/gallery/condette.html">Condette</a> where he had installed his lover, Ellen Ternan, in a love nest.</p>
<p>Dickens must have been worried by accounts of the “Boulogne sore throat” in the press and so sent his sons home to England for safety. French medical authorities played down the extent of the infection, which unfortunately coincided with an outbreak of <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/typhus/">typhus</a> that killed Dickens’s friend, the comic writer and journalist <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/%C3%80_Beckett,_Gilbert_Abbott">Gilbert Abbott À Beckett</a>. À Beckett had also been holidaying in Boulogne and – in another tragic twist – as he lay mortally ill, his son Walter died of diphtheria two days before he himself was taken by typhus.</p>
<p>In a letter to The Times on September 5, 1856, a group of prominent Boulogne physicians noted that “with a very few exceptions, this disease has been confined to the poorer quarters of the town and the most indigent of the population”. A few days later, on September 12, a person calling himself “Another Sufferer from the Boulogne Fever” wrote to the paper to say that he had been staying in the same boarding house as À Beckett and that his wife had caught diphtheria. He concluded his letter by pleading:</p>
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<p>If you can spare any of your valuable space for this letter, it may also be of service to warn persons who intend to cross the channel to Boulogne.</p>
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<h2>Misinformation</h2>
<p>This prompted another letter from the Boulogne medical authorities, on September 16, challenging the assertions of “Another Sufferer” and pointing out that the “panic” was “almost entirely confined to temporary visitors” – even though the physicians admitted: “Most assuredly we would not advise any one to take a child” to “a house where malignant sore throat had recently existed”. Misinformation about the epidemic was rife: boarding houses and travel companies continued unreservedly to advertise Boulogne as a holiday destination. Even the hotel where À Beckett died covered up the true cause of his death. </p>
<p>As a journalist himself, Dickens was highly sensitive to fake news. In his letter to Olliffe he observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have had a general knowledge of there being such a Malady abroad among children, and two of our childrens’ little acquaintances have even died of it. But it is extraordinarily difficult … to discover the truth in such a place; and the townspeople are naturally particularly afraid of my knowing it, as having so many means of making it better known.</p>
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<p>In 1856, those who were cautious and prudent stood a better chance of survival and eventually life did return to normal for Dickens. His sons went back to school in Boulogne and he would return many times.</p>
<p>A vaccine for diphtheria was not developed until 1920, though it was only in 1940 that it was offered free to children on a national scale. Vaccines for COVID-19 are now being rolled out and life will hopefully get back to normal for us too. We will return to our holiday destinations – perhaps even to Boulogne, to walk in the <a href="https://www.boulonnaisautop.com/en/stay/activities/hiking-paths-and-trails-on-the-opal-coast/promenade-charles-dickens-2301094">footsteps of Dickens</a> in a town that he loved so dearly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leon Litvack is Principal Editor of the Charles Dickens Letters Project, published by the Dickens Fellowship. The letter discussed in this article forms part of the ever-expanding archive of newly discovered letters published as part of Dickensletters.com.</span></em></p>Dickens worried for the safety of his sons when diphtheria broke out in France and - in a newly discovered letter - wrote about how the truth was difficult to find.Leon Litvack, Associate Professor, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1433522020-08-11T20:08:47Z2020-08-11T20:08:47ZCoronavirus misinformation is a global issue, but which myth you fall for likely depends on where you live<p>In February, major social media platforms attended a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-technology/white-house-to-meet-large-tech-companies-to-discuss-ways-to-control-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN20X3CH">meeting hosted by the World Health Organisation</a> to address coronavirus misinformation. The aim was to catalyse the fight against what the United Nations has called an “<a href="https://www.un.org/en/un-coronavirus-communications-team/un-tackling-%E2%80%98infodemic%E2%80%99-misinformation-and-cybercrime-covid-19">infodemic</a>”. </p>
<p>Usually, misinformation is focused on specific regions and topics. But COVID-19 is different. For what seems like the first time, both misinformation and fact-checking behaviours are coordinated around a common set of narratives the world over. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://esoc.princeton.edu/publications/esoc-covid-19-disinformation-tracking-report">research</a>, we identified the key trends in both coronavirus misinformation and fact-checking efforts. Using Google’s <a href="https://toolbox.google.com/factcheck/explorer">Fact Check Explorer computing interface</a> we tracked fact-check posts from January to July – with the first checks appearing as early as January 22. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352176/original/file-20200811-23-8q2s3q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Google’s Fact Check Explorer database is connected with a range of fact-checkers, most of which are part of the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshot</span></span>
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<h2>A uniform rate of growth</h2>
<p>Our research found the volume of fact-checks on coronavirus misinformation increased steadily in the early stages of the virus’s spread (January and February) and then increased sharply in March and April – when the virus <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00758-2">started to spread globally</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we found the same pattern of gradual and then sudden increase even after dividing fact-checks into Spanish, Hindi, Indonesian and Portuguese. </p>
<p>Thus, misinformation and subsequent fact-checking efforts trended in a similar way right across the globe. This is a unique feature of COVID-19. </p>
<p>According to our analysis, there has been no equivalent global trend for other issues such as elections, terrorism, police activity or immigration.</p>
<h2>Different nations, different misconceptions</h2>
<p>On March 16, the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project, in collaboration with Microsoft Research, <a href="https://esoc.princeton.edu/publications/esoc-covid-19-disinformation-tracking-report">began cataloguing COVID-19 misinformation</a>. </p>
<p>It did this by collating news articles with reporting by a wide range of local fact-checking networks and global groups such as Agence France-Presse and NewsGuard.</p>
<p>We analysed this data set to explore the evolution of specific COVID-19 narratives, with “<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AEE9TjqPjuUeTtZzyEAGHi5Mmu2V5P1N/view">narrative</a>” referring to the type of story a piece of misinformation pushes. </p>
<p>For instance, one misinformation narrative concerns the “origin of the virus”. This includes the false claim the virus jumped to humans as a result of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/31/bat-soup-dodgy-cures-and-diseasology-the-spread-of-coronavirus-bunkum">someone eating</a> <a href="https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus-bat-soup">bat soup</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversations-factcheck-granted-accreditation-by-international-fact-checking-network-at-poynter-74363">The Conversation's FactCheck granted accreditation by International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter</a>
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<p>We found the most common narrative worldwide was related to “emergency responses”. These stories reported false information about government or political responses to fighting the virus’s outbreak.</p>
<p>This may be because, unlike narratives surrounding the “nature of the virus”, it is easy to speculate on (and hard to prove) whether people in power have good or ill intent.</p>
<p>Notably, this was also the most common narrative in the US, with an early example being a <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/14/tech/twitter-coronavirus-new-york-misinformation/index.html">false rumour</a> the New York Police Department would immediately lock down New York City. </p>
<p>What’s more, a major motivation for spreading misinformation on social media is politics. The US is a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/political-polarization/">polarised political environment</a>, so this might help explain the trend towards political misinformation.</p>
<p>We also found China has more misinformation narratives than any other country. This may be because China is the world’s most populous country. </p>
<p>However, it’s worth noting the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet/china-launches-platform-to-stamp-out-online-rumors-idUSKCN1LF0HL">main fact-checking website</a> used by the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project for misinformation coming out of China is run by the Chinese Communist Party. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349615/original/file-20200727-29-tdwmlm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">This chart shows the proportion of total misinformation narratives on COVID-19 by the top ten countries between January and July, 2020.</span>
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<p>When fighting misinformation, it is important to have as wide a range of <a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn-fact-checkers-code-of-principles/">independent and transparent</a> fact-checkers as possible. This reduces the potential for bias.</p>
<h2>Hydroxychloroquine and other (non) ‘cures’</h2>
<p>Another set of misinformation narratives was focused on “false cures” or “false preventative measures”. This was among the most common themes in both China and Australia. </p>
<p>One example was a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/technology/virus-video-trump.html">video</a> that went viral on social media suggesting hydroxychloroquine is an effective coronavirus treatment. This is despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-a-new-review-of-several-studies-shows-flaws-in-research-and-no-benefit-137869">experts stating</a> it is <em>not</em> a proven COVID-19 treatment, and can actually have harmful side effects.</p>
<p>Myths about the “nature of the virus” were also common. These referred to specific characteristics of the virus – such as that it can’t spread on surfaces. We know this <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-environmental-cleaning-and-disinfection-principles-for-health-and-residential-care-facilities.pdf">isn’t true</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-how-long-coronavirus-survives-on-surfaces-heres-what-it-means-for-handling-money-food-and-more-134671">We know how long coronavirus survives on surfaces. Here's what it means for handling money, food and more</a>
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<h2>Narratives reflect world events</h2>
<p>Our analysis found different narratives peaked at different stages of the virus’s spread. </p>
<p>Misinformation about the nature of the virus was prevalent during the outbreak’s early stages, probably spurred by an initial lack of scientific research regarding the nature of the virus. </p>
<p>In contrast, theories relating to emergency responses surfaced later and remain even now, as governments continue to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2020/aug/11/life-under-covid-19-lockdown-in-melbourne">implement measures</a> to fight COVID-19’s spread. </p>
<h2>A wide variety of fact-checkers</h2>
<p>We also identified greater diversity in websites fact-checking COVID-19 misinformation, compared to those investigating other topics.</p>
<p>Since January, only 25% of 6,000 fact-check posts or articles were published by the top five fact-checking websites (ranked by number of posts). In comparison, 68% of 3,000 climate change fact-checks were published by the top five websites. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-help-stop-the-infodemic-the-increasing-misinformation-about-coronavirus-137561">5 ways to help stop the 'infodemic,' the increasing misinformation about coronavirus</a>
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<p>It seems resources previously devoted to a wide range of topics are now homing in on coronavirus misinformation. Nonetheless, it’s impossible to know the total volume of this content online.</p>
<p>For now, the best defence is for governments and online platforms to increase awareness about false claims and build on the robust fact-checking infrastructures at our disposal.</p>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Shapiro has received funding for work relevant to this topic from the Bertelsmann Foundation and Microsoft.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Oledan is affiliated with the World Bank Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Weismueller and Paul Harrigan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When it comes to COVID-19 misinformation, not all nations are the same. Some are peddling a larger variety of myths than others - and each seems to have its own personal favourite.Jason Weismueller, Doctoral Researcher, The University of Western AustraliaJacob Shapiro, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton UniversityJan Oledan, Research Specialist, Princeton UniversityPaul Harrigan, Associate Professor of Marketing, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1381922020-05-21T15:55:03Z2020-05-21T15:55:03ZCell tower vandals and re-open protestors — why some people believe in coronavirus conspiracies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335230/original/file-20200514-77255-js4mlg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=253%2C42%2C4446%2C2945&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shannon Rose, left, joined other demonstrators calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to end the stay-at-home orders during a protest at the state capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on May 9, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The existential threat we’re facing right now might explain the proliferation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-cures-for-170-and-other-hoaxes-why-some-people-believe-them-133756">conspiracy theories</a>, extreme political ideologies and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/10/21252583/coronavirus-lockdown-protests-media-trump">#Reopen protests</a>. </p>
<p>People defy government shelter-in-place orders and pandemic-related hygiene practices in response to the terror posed by the risk of death.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-reopen-protesters-really-saying-137558">What are the 'reopen' protesters really saying?</a>
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<p>I research new religious movements and study relationships between death and technology. While it is only one answer <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/the-covid-19-pandemic-is-exposing-the-plague-of-neoliberalism/">among many</a>, anxiety about death can offer some insight into the growing coronavirus <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanon-conspiracy-theories-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-a-public-health-threat-135515">culture wars</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Premier Doug Ford referred to protestors calling for an end to the COVID-19 lockdown “yahoos.” And that comment has now inspired a viral music hit.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Conspiracy theories as risk management</h2>
<p>Social psychologist Sheldon Solomon argues that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.03.001">people employ risk management strategies to mitigate the terror of human finitude</a>. That is, under normal circumstances, we might push the thought of death out of our minds; we might turn to the life-extending promises of biomedicine or we might join a gym, all in an attempt to extend our mortality.</p>
<p>The need for <a href="https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1258104077784961025">reassurance in the face of mortality</a> offers some insight into why conspiracy theories around <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/plandemic-judy-mikovits-covid-19/">mass vaccinations</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/03/us-intelligence-documents-accuse-china-of-covering-up-coronavirus-outbreak.html">government cover-ups</a>, <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/conspiracy-theory-misinterprets-goals-of-gates-foundation/">microchip implants</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/conspiracy-theorists-are-falsely-claiming-that-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-an-elaborate-hoax-135985">empty hospitals</a> are engaging new audiences.</p>
<p>When the risk is more direct and when threats to our life are more present, we might seek assurances of our immunity to death through more <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/22515/militias-coronavirus-trump-reopening-lockdown-protests-biden-republicans">extreme measures like rallying against a lockdown</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the evidence, conspiracy theorists are falsely linking the spread of COVID-19 to the implementation of 5G cellular networks. In the United Kingdom, <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/over-50-cell-towers-vandalised-in-uk-due-to-5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories">over 50 5G towers have been vandalized</a>. Four 5G towers were <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/two-arrested-after-two-more-quebec-cell-towers-go-up-in-flames-1.4928666">set on fire in Québec</a>. And broadband workers in the U.K. are being <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-attacks">spat on and stabbed by conspiracy theorists</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/qanon-conspiracy-theories-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-a-public-health-threat-135515">QAnon conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic are a public health threat</a>
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<p>These aren’t the only extreme acts posing a threat to public health connected to conspiracies. Social media influencers have filmed themselves <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/wxey35/larz-influencer-coronavirus-positive-lick-toilet">licking toilet seats</a> as a “coronavirus challenge.” In April, an engineer tried <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/02/825897966/train-engineer-says-he-crashed-in-attempt-to-attack-navy-hospital-ship-in-l-a">ramming his train into a naval hospital ship in Los Angeles</a>, incorrectly believing it part of a government conspiracy. And the anti-vaxxer movement is <a href="https://respectfulinsolence.com/2020/05/06/judy-mikovits-pandemic/">spreading misinformation</a> and labelling COVID-19 a manufactured “plandemic.” (It is not.)</p>
<h2>Reopen protests and the denial of death</h2>
<p>Our relationship to death is paradoxical, writes French philosopher <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/death-9780567375933/">Françoise Dastur</a>. We manage our anxieties by running towards death — risking our lives through extreme sports, for example — but we simultaneously organize our lives to ignore death. If we survive running a marathon or skydiving, we symbolically overcome our mortal nature. </p>
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<p>As coronavirus death rates rise, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-reopen-protesters-really-saying-137558">#Reopen protesters</a> in American and Canadian cities are calling for a return to economic and social normalcy, arguing that our freedoms are curtailed by shelter-in-place orders. Putting oneself in harm’s way by attending a #Reopen rally, or by licking a toilet seat, could be viewed as its own kind of extreme sport — one where people prove the ultimate <em>truthiness</em> of their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/us/politics/coronavirus-death-toll-presidential-campaign.html">political ideologies</a>, while symbolically demonstrating their invincibility.</p>
<p>The #Reopen protesters are directly ignoring one kind of death, those of the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/americas-racial-contract-showing/611389/">marginalized communities</a> disproportionately affected by coronavirus. Similar to privileged assurances by <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/dr-fauci-dr-birx-criminally-charged-know-covid-19-victims-elderly-seniors-diabetics-chose-scare-us-public-instead/">some conservative pundits</a> that coronavirus poses no danger because it will <em>only</em> kill the elderly, diabetic and “sickly,” calls to reopen hair salons and other nonessential services ignore racial inequalities and the vulnerable workers who staff these premises. </p>
<h2>Coronavirus as dirt out of place</h2>
<p>In her account of taboo and cleanliness, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/03/us-intelligence-documents-accuse-china-of-covering-up-coronavirus-outbreak.html">anthropologist Mary Douglas</a> explored how societies are often organized around their hygienic norms, writing: </p>
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<p>“Ideas about separating, purifying, demarcating and punishing transgressions … impose system on an inherently untidy experience.”</p>
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<p>As Douglas argued, we create boundaries as a way of dealing with things that fall between the cracks of our conceptual categories. The dangers of COVID-19 are real, but much like <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-ancient-israelites-dealt-with-epidemics-the-bible-tells-of-prophecy-and-rituals-135803">calls for repentance</a> during ancient epidemics, rituals of containment are also symbolic and culturally meaningful. And a lack of containment threatens social order.</p>
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<span class="caption">Canadian Department of Health poster.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Provincial Archives of Alberta)</span></span>
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<p>Physical distancing, handwashing, donning protective masks and applying hand sanitizer are all pragmatic steps to keep ourselves and our communities safe. Yet these are also attempts to deal with existential uncertainty by putting boundaries around a virus we cannot control. </p>
<h2>Our common existential threat</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/necromedia">Canadian media theorist Marcel O’Gorman</a>, ignoring mortality is the common existential objective of humans. While there is a radical difference between handwashing and licking airplane toilet seats, both exist within a continuum of risk management. If we can prove to ourselves that we have nothing to worry about, maybe we’ll have nothing to worry about?</p>
<p>The reality, of course, is that there is a lot to be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/united-states-coronavirus-jobs-unemployment-april-1.5561026">anxious about at the moment</a>. Over 320,000 lives have been extinguished, <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/04/11/covid-19-costs-grand-blanc-michigan-woman-entire-family/5132907002/">people are dying alone</a> inside hospitals and nursing homes, and physical distancing guidelines <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/01/online-memorial-site-living-people-write-obituaries-virtual-services-funeral/">leave families to grieve without social support systems</a>.</p>
<p>Like dirt, the coronavirus is matter out of place — an invisible menace to social order and individual life. </p>
<p>Coronavirus is a reminder of the continued <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/dichotomous-thinking-and-uncertainty-in-medicine-and-science/">unknowability</a> of so much in our world. In the end, the conspiracy theorists, civic-minded and even the “<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/covidiot?lang=en">covidiots</a>” all share something in common: the inevitability of death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Cohen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>From political ideologies, conspiracy theories or “reopen” protests, when faced with uncertainty, we seek reassurance in the face of mortality through efforts at containment.Jeremy Cohen, Doctoral Candidate, Religious Studies, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1384642020-05-13T14:38:56Z2020-05-13T14:38:56ZCOVID-19 has blown away the myth about ‘First’ and ‘Third’ world competence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334609/original/file-20200513-156675-28cwm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Donald Trump has been widely slammed for mishandling the COVID-19 crisis, costing the US dearly. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the planet’s – and Africa’s – deepest prejudices is being demolished by the way countries handle COVID-19.</p>
<p>For as long as any of us remember, everyone “knew” that “First World” countries – in effect, Western Europe and North America – were much better at providing their citizens with a good life than the poor and incapable states of the “Third World”. “First World” has become shorthand for competence, sophistication and the highest political and economic standards.</p>
<p>So deep-rooted is this that even critics of the “First World” usually accept it. They might argue that it became that way by exploiting the rest of the world or that it is not morally or culturally superior. But they never question that it knows how to offer (some) people a better material life. Africans and others in the “Third World” often aspire to become like the “First World” – and to live in it, because that means living better.</p>
<p>So we should have expected the state-of-the-art health systems of the “First World”, spurred on by their aware and empowered citizens, to handle COVID-19 with relative ease, leaving the rest of the planet to endure the horror of buckling health systems and mass graves.</p>
<p>We have seen precisely the opposite. </p>
<h2>Fatal errors</h2>
<p>“First World” is often code for countries run by Europeans or people of European descent; some of the worst health performers on the globe in recent weeks have been “First World”. For Anglophone Africans, it is doubly interesting that two of the greatest failures in handling COVID-19 are the former coloniser, Britain, and the English-speaking superpower, the United States of America.</p>
<p>Both countries’ national governments have made just about every possible mistake in tackling COVID-19. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/446660/U-S-UK-first-ignored-corona-now-they-are-failing-to-contain">ignored the threat</a>. When they were forced to act, they <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mixed-white-house-messaging-coronavirus-sparks-internal-frustration-n1152606">sent mixed signals</a> to citizens which encouraged many to act in ways which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/18/how-did-britain-get-its-response-to-coronavirus-so-wrong">spread the infection</a>. Neither did anything like the testing needed to control the virus. Both failed to equip their hospitals and health workers with the equipment they needed, triggering many avoidable deaths.</p>
<p>The failure was political. The US is the only rich country with no national health system. An attempt by former president Barack Obama to <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/obamacare-definition-3306077">extend affordable care</a> was watered down by right-wing resistance, then <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-24370967">further gutted by the current president and his party</a>. Britain’s much-loved <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/">National Health Service</a> has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/25/boris-johnson-conservatives-nhs-funding">weakened by spending cuts</a>. Both governments failed to fight the virus in time because they had other priorities.</p>
<p>And yet, in Britain, the government’s <a href="https://ukpollingreport.co.uk/">popularity ratings are sky high</a> and it is expected to win the next election comfortably. The US president is behind in the polls but the contest is close enough to <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/">make his re-election a real possibility</a>. Can there be anything more typically “Third World” than citizens supporting a government whose actions cost thousands of lives?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-south-africa-needs-to-forge-a-resilient-social-compact-for-covid-19-138171">What South Africa needs to forge a resilient social compact for Covid-19</a>
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<p>Western European countries such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/spain-coronavirus-spreading-month-lockdown-200424085528959.html">Spain</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-cases.html">Italy</a> and Africa’s other wholesale coloniser, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52615733">France</a>, also battled to contain the virus. Some European countries have coped reasonably well, as have some run by the descendants of Europeans such as <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31097-7/fulltext">New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-52616232/coronavirus-crowd-concerns-as-australia-s-restrictions-ease">Australia</a>. But the star performers are not in the historical “First World”.</p>
<h2>Effective responses</h2>
<p>The most effective response was probably South Korea’s, followed by other East Asian states and territories. This is partly because they are used to dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. But it is also because they learned from experience: South Korea’s success is due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-korea-flattened-the-coronavirus-curve-with-technology-136202">very effective testing and tracing of infected people</a>. Whatever the reason, it is East Asia, not “the West”, which has done what the “First World” is expected to do.</p>
<p>Some would reply that East Asia is now “First World”. So, it is still superior; it has simply changed its address. This is debatable. But, even if it is accepted, some places have contained the virus in distinctly “Third World” conditions.</p>
<p>Kerala was the first Indian state to encounter the virus but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/21/kerala-indian-state-flattened-coronavirus-curve">has kept deaths down to three</a>. It had largely curbed COVID-19 but is now dealing with nearly 200 cases, all people arriving from other parts of India. Judging by its record so far, it will contain this outbreak too.</p>
<p>Kerala, too, has learnt from handling previous epidemics. It also has a strong health system. But one of its key tools is <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/kerala-covid-19-response-model-emulation/">citizen participation</a>: it has worked with neighbourhood watches and citizen volunteers to track the contacts of infected people. Students were recruited to build kiosks at which citizens were tested. Kerala also had the capacity to ensure that all children entitled to school meals received them after schools were closed: non-governmental organisations were mostly responsible, emphasising the partnership between the government and citizens.</p>
<p>Kerala’s performance is not a fluke: it has, for years, produced better health outcomes and literacy rates than the rest of India.</p>
<p>Nor has Africa’s response to the virus confirmed prejudices. When COVID-19 began spreading, it became almost routine for reports, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-an-existential-threat-to-africa-and-her-crowded-slums-135829">commentaries</a> – and Melinda Gates, who, with her husband Bill, heads the couple’s development foundation – to predict that Africa would be engulfed in death as the virus ripped through its weak health systems. This is, after all, what is meant to happen in the “Third World” and particularly in Africa, which is always considered the least capable continent on the planet.</p>
<p>So far, it has not happened. It still might but, even if it does, some countries are coping better than the dire predictions claimed (and, perhaps, better than the “First World”). One stand-out is Senegal, which has devised a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2020/04/senegal-1-covid-19-test-kit-race-vaccine-200425131112353.html">cheap test for the virus</a> and has used 3-D printing to produce ventilators at a fraction of the going price. Africa, too, has experienced recent outbreaks, notably of Ebola, and seems to have learned valuable lessons from them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-africa-needs-to-battle-unique-challenges-to-keep-coronavirus-numbers-down-136001">Why Africa needs to battle unique challenges to keep coronavirus numbers down</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Inspiring</h2>
<p>The “First World” is still far richer than the rest of the planet and may well remain so. So its politicians, academics and journalists will probably still believe they are better than the rest.</p>
<p>But the COVID-19 experience may just trigger new thinking in the “Third World”. The most basic function of a government is to protect the safety of its citizens. Ensuring that people remain healthy is at least as important a guarantee of safety as protecting them from violence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-covid-19-provides-a-lesson-for-africa-to-fund-social-assistance-137175">Explainer: why COVID-19 provides a lesson for Africa to fund social assistance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Reasonable people would surely much rather be living in Kerala or Senegal (or East Asia) right now than in Europe and North America, raising obvious questions about who really does offer a better life.</p>
<p>That should inspire Africans and others in the “Third World” to ask themselves whether it makes sense to want to be America, Britain or France. COVID-19 has made a strong argument for wanting to be East Asia – or, given Africa’s circumstances, Kerala.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Friedman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the worst health performers in recent weeks have been ‘First World’.Steven Friedman, Professor of Political Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1359852020-04-22T15:36:47Z2020-04-22T15:36:47ZConspiracy theorists are falsely claiming that the coronavirus pandemic is an elaborate hoax<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329583/original/file-20200421-82672-yo3qjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C9%2C6451%2C4310&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A sign outside Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, B.C., explains visitor restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the midst of a global pandemic, conspiracy theorists have found yet another way to spread dangerous <a href="https://qz.com/1476670/misinformation-is-dictionary-coms-word-of-the-year-dont-confuse-it-with-disinformation/">disinformation and misinformation</a> about COVID-19, sowing seeds of doubts about its severity and denying the very existence of the pandemic.</p>
<p>Since March 28, conspiracy theorists — “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/coronavirus-deniers-take-aim-hospitals-pandemic-grows-n1172336">coronavirus deniers</a>” — have been using the hashtag #FilmYourHospital to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6777373/bc-man-hot-water-covid-19-test-site-hospital/">encourage people</a> to visit local hospitals to take pictures and videos to prove that the COVID-19 pandemic is an elaborate hoax. </p>
<p>The premise for this conspiracy theory rests on the baseless assumption that if hospital parking lots and waiting rooms are empty then the pandemic must not be real or is not as severe as reported by health authorities and the media.</p>
<h2>Necessary precautions</h2>
<p>Of course, there is a simple explanation for why some hospital parking lots and waiting rooms might have been empty. As part of pandemic planning, many hospitals have banned visitors and doctors have had to postpone or cancel elective and non-urgent procedures to free up medical staff and resources. This is in keeping with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/us-hospitals-coronavirus-pandemic-postpone-elective-surgery-procedures">expert advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a> and other health authorities. </p>
<p>In addition, to slow the spread of the virus and prevent cross infections with non-COVID-19 patients, the CDC also recommended that health-care facilities create <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/steps-to-prepare.html">separate intake and waiting areas</a> for coronavirus patients and reserve emergency areas for emergencies such as heart attacks and broken arms. Furthermore, with the lockdown, fewer people are exerting and hurting themselves, which has resulted in fewer visits to the emergency department for <a href="https://turnto10.com/features/health-landing-page/hospitals-see-fewer-heart-attack-stroke-visits-in-emergency-department">heart attacks</a> and strokes.</p>
<p>This empty-hospital conspiracy theory <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/april-2020/we-can-inoculate-ourselves-against-covid-19-misinformation/">joins a parade of false, unproven and misleading claims</a> about the virus that have been making the rounds on social media including allegations that <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory">5G wireless technology</a> somehow plays a role in the spread of the COVID-19 virus, or <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/consuming-silver-particles-will-not-prevent-or-treat-novel-coronavirus">consuming silver particles</a> or <a href="https://www.webmd.com/lung/qa/can-lemon-juice-decrease-the-chance-of-getting-covid19">drinking water with lemon</a> prevents or cures you of the virus. None of these are true.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uf2HpbDCM9I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">British MP Michael Gove said at a Downing Street press conference that the conspiracy theory linking 5G technology to the spread of coronavirus is ‘dangerous nonsense,’ after cellphone towers around the U.K. were attacked.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hashtag theories</h2>
<p>At the Ryerson University Social Media Lab, some of our research investigates <a href="https://socialmedialab.ca/2020/03/11/research-grant-study-misinformation-coronavirus/">how misinformation propagates across different social media platforms</a>. One of the first steps when examining trending topics on social media is to look for signs of social bots — social media accounts designed to act on Twitter and other platforms with some level of autonomy — and coordinated inauthentic behaviour that may include coordinated activities that attempt to <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/platform-manipulation">artificially manipulate conversations to make them appear more popular than they are</a>.</p>
<p>These two forms of social manipulation, when left unchecked, can skew the conversation, manufacture anger where there is none, suppress opposition or dampen debate. These tactics may undermine our ability as citizens to make decisions and reach consensus as a society.</p>
<p>This new conspiracy campaign against the media and public health officials, with hospitals and medical staff caught in the middle, started on March 28 with a simple tweet by a Twitter user posing a question: “#FilmYourHospital Can this become a thing?”</p>
<h2>Social media analysis</h2>
<p>For <a href="https://covid19misinfo.org/2020/04/21/hospitals-around-the-world-are-being-targeted-by-conspiracy-theorists/">our analysis</a>, we collected a sample dataset consisting of nearly 100,000 #FilmYourHospital public tweets and retweets posted by 43,000 public accounts on Twitter from March 28, the beginning of this campaign, until April 9. </p>
<p>Our analysis suggests that while the #FilmYourHospital campaign on Twitter is full of misleading and false COVID-19 claims, most of the active and influential accounts behind it don’t appear to be automated. However, we did find signs of ad hoc co-ordination among conservative internet personalities and far-right groups attempting to take a baseless conspiracy theory and turn it into a weapon against their political opponents.</p>
<p>Importantly, we found that while much of the content came from users with limited reach, the oxygen that fuelled this conspiracy in its early days came from just a handful of prominent conservative politicians and far right political activists like @DeAnna4Congress, @realcandaceo and @DonnaWR8. These power users employed the #FilmYourHospital hashtag to build awareness about the campaign and to encourage their followers to film what’s happening in their local hospitals. After the initial boost by a few prominent accounts, the campaign was mostly sustained by pro-Trump supporters, followed by a secondary wave of propagation outside the U.S.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329185/original/file-20200420-152591-14zt1h0.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communication network comprising Twitter accounts (displayed as dots) that used the #FilmYourHospital hashtag March 28-30, 2020. Connections between accounts represent interactions (reply, retweet or mention). Notably, one of the most influential users who triggered the viral spread of this campaign was @DeAnna4Congress, a verified account for DeAnna Lorraine, a former Republican congressional candidate who recently ran unsuccessfully against Nancy Pelosi for Congress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As part of our ongoing research on COVID-19 misinformation, we developed the <a href="https://covid19misinfo.org/">COVID-19 Misinformation Portal</a> that features a range of resources to inform and inoculate Canadians against false and misleading claims about the pandemic. This includes documenting coronavirus claims debunked by professional fact checkers, and a Twitter dashboard tracking the presence of possible bot accounts.</p>
<h2>Heightened awareness</h2>
<p>In normal times, outlandish conspiracies like this might make us shake our heads, but as COVID-19 cases continue to stalk the hallways of <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/premier-pleads-with-quebec-doctors-to-help-out-in-covid-19-ravaged-seniors-residences-1.4897252">nursing homes in Canada</a> and fill beds in <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6830124/reopening-us-new-york-coronavirus/">New York hospitals</a>, it is harder to ignore such upsetting conspiracies from the dark recesses of the internet. </p>
<p>The rise of this conspiracy from a single tweet reminds us that while the spread of <a href="https://covid19misinfo.org/2020/04/17/seven-types-of-covid19-misinformation/">misinformation</a> can be mitigated by fact-checking and directing people to credible sources of information from public health agencies, false and misleading claims that are driven by politics and supported by strong convictions and not science are much harder to root out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anatoliy Gruzd receives funding from the Government of Canada via the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Mai receives funding from the Government of Canada via the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).</span></em></p>Hospitals have requested that people avoid non-emergency visits, and conspiracy theorists are posting images of empty parking lots online as false proof that COVID-19 is an elaborate hoax.Anatoliy Gruzd, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Social Media Data Stewardship, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityPhilip Mai, Senior Researcher and Director of Business and Communications, Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1356952020-04-07T06:30:04Z2020-04-07T06:30:04ZNo, 5G radiation doesn’t cause or spread the coronavirus. Saying it does is destructive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325969/original/file-20200407-160446-1y4febn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=158%2C93%2C6071%2C3932&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A conspiracy theory claiming 5G can spread the coronavirus is making the rounds on social media. The myth supposedly <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory">gained traction</a> when a Belgian doctor linked the “dangers” of 5G technology to the virus during an <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EPwP-LCW4AA8ccM?format=jpg&name=small">interview in January</a>. </p>
<p>Closer to home, Facebook group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Stop5GAustralia/?ref=br_rs">Stop5G Australia</a> (with more than 31,700 members) has various posts linking the disease’s spread to 5G technology.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325975/original/file-20200407-110267-106xe3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Stop5G Australia Facebook group share posts and videos claiming 5G helps spread COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Peddling such misinformation is not only wrong, it’s destructive. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/06/at-least-20-uk-phone-masts-vandalised-over-false-5g-coronavirus-claims">The Guardian</a> reported that since Thursday at least 20 mobile phone masts across the UK have been torched or otherwise vandalised. Mobile network representative MobileUK published an open letter stating: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have experienced cases of vandals setting fire to mobile masts, disrupting critical infrastructure and spreading false information suggesting a connection between 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Celebrities - stick to what you know</h2>
<p>Many outlets and people have rushed to debunk this myth, including federal minister for communications, cyber safety and the arts <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Ftechnology%2F5g-corona-link-debunked%2Fnews-story%2F011e09098e643ff69dfb32263a43097f&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=a80e4b5a16e30164cae58f0eae09803d-1586226027">Paul Fletcher</a>. But myriad groups and public figures continue to perpetuate it.</p>
<p>Actor <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/">Woody Harrelson</a> and singer Keri Hilson have both shared content with fans suggesting a link between 5G and COVID-19. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1239560157232758784"}"></div></p>
<p>Stop5G Australia members have claimed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/criminal-investigation-launched-ruby-princess-cruise-ship-coronavirus-disaster">Ruby Princess</a> cruiseliner’s link to 600 reported infections and 11 deaths is because cruises are “radiation saturated”. That’s wrong.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325974/original/file-20200407-182957-1finj3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot of posts from the Stop5G Australia Facebook group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.facebook.com/groups/Stop5GAustralia/?ref=br_rs</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While cruise passengers <a href="https://www.princess.com/come-back-new/top-ten-faq/">can access</a> roaming wifi services on board, these are not <a href="https://www.cruiseandferry.net/articles/how-wireless-maritime-services-is-leading-innovation">5G services</a>. Maritime cruises have <a href="https://www.wmsatsea.com/solutions.html">yet to implement 5G technology</a>.</p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-5g-roll-out-turn-off-5g-australia?recruiter=156941140&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=0c09a55e-8394-4239-b247-d19daf56a222&utm_content=fht-21273949-en-au%3Av2&use_react=false">petition</a> is calling on the Australia government to stop 5G’s rollout because the technology can supposedly “negatively affect your immune system” (a claim for which there is exactly <a href="https://www.arpansa.gov.au/news/5g-and-other-telecommunications-do-not-affect-immune-system">zero evidence</a>). It has received more than 27,000 signatures. </p>
<h2>How 5G radio signals (radiation) work</h2>
<p>The difference between 5G and previous generations of mobile services (4G, 3G) is that the latter use lower radio frequencies (<a href="https://www.finder.com.au/will-my-phone-work-in-australia-carrier-network-frequencies">below the 6 gigahertz range</a>), whereas 5G <em>also</em> uses frequencies in the 30–300 <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/5g-vs-4g-4156322">gigahertz range</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325933/original/file-20200407-104477-svz9ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This diagram shows different frequencies along the electromagnetic spectrum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.arpansa.gov.au/sites/default/files/legacy/pubs/emr/spectrum.pdf">Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency/AUS GOV.</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 30-300 gigahertz range, there’s not enough energy to break chemical bonds or remove electrons when in contact with human tissue. Thus, this range is referred to as “non-ionising” electromagnetic radiation. </p>
<p>It’s approved by the federal government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency as not having the negative health effects of more intense <a href="https://www.arpansa.gov.au/regulation-and-licensing/regulatory-publications/radiation-protection-series/codes-and-standards/rps3">radiation</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-5g-is-going-to-harm-our-health-so-lets-stop-worrying-about-it-120501">There's no evidence 5G is going to harm our health, so let's stop worrying about it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Radiation can come into contact with the skin, for example, when we put a 5G mobile to our ear to make a call. This is when we’re most exposed to <a href="https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/non-ionising-radiation/radiofrequency-radiation">non-ionising radiation</a>. But this exposure is well below the recommended safety level. </p>
<p>5G radiation can’t penetrate skin, or allow a virus to penetrate skin.
<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/5g-mobile-networks-and-health">There is no evidence</a> 5G radio frequencies cause or exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus.</p>
<p>Also, the protein shell of the virus <a href="https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2020/04/02/whats-a-virus-anyway-part-1-the-bare-bones-basics/">is incapable of hijacking</a> 5G radio signals. This is because radiation and viruses exist in different forms that do not interact. One is a biological phenomenon and the other exists on the electromagnetic spectrum.</p>
<p>5G radio waves are called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/millimeter-wave">millimetre waves</a>, because their wavelength is measured in millimetres. Because these waves are short, 5G cell towers need to be relatively close together - about <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/telecom/wireless/everything-you-need-to-know-about-5g">250 metres</a> apart. They are organised as a collection of small cells (a cell is an area covered by radio signals). </p>
<p>For 5G to cover a larger geographic area, more base stations are needed in comparison to 4G. This increase in the number of base stations, and their proximity to humans, is one factor that may stir unfounded fears about 5G’s potential health impacts. </p>
<h2>Your phone may be dangerous, but its radiation isn’t</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1">COVID-19 spreads</a> through small droplets released from the nose or mouth of an infected person when they cough, spit, sneeze, talk or exhale. Transmission occurs when the droplets come into contact with the nose, eyes or mouth of a healthy person.</p>
<p>So if an infectious person speaks through a phone held near their mouth, enough infectious droplets may land on its surface to make it capable of spreading the virus. This is why it’s not advisable to share mobiles during a pandemic. You should also regularly disinfect your mobile.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-i-get-coronavirus-from-mail-or-package-deliveries-should-i-disinfect-my-phone-134535">Can I get coronavirus from mail or package deliveries? Should I disinfect my phone?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why are we having this discussion?</h2>
<p>To many of us, it’s obvious a human virus can’t spread via radio signals, and such a conspiracy may be linked to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-in-politicians-and-government-is-at-an-all-time-low-the-next-government-must-work-to-fix-that-110886">wider distrust of the government in general</a>. </p>
<p>Addressing this myth is critical as property is now being damaged, and individuals attacked. Physical and verbal threats to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/youtube-to-suppress-content-spreading-coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory">broadband engineers</a> can be added to a long list of assaults on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-05/nsw-nurses-midwives-abused-during-coronavirus-pandemic/12123216">health workers</a>. </p>
<p>At a time when millions are relying on fast internet to work and study from home, vital telecommunications infrastructure is at risk of being destroyed. Conspiracy theories have motivated arson attacks on 5G towers in Belfast, Liverpool and <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/04/masts-set-alight-baseless-conspiracy-theories-linking-5g-spread-coronavirus-12508127/">Birmingham</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/youtube-to-suppress-content-spreading-coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory">Youtube has announced</a> it will devote resources to removing content linking 5G technology to COVID-19. </p>
<p>The announcement came after fingers <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/11311306/bizarre-5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-whatsapp/">were</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fact-check-viral-video-coronavirus-1.5506595">pointed</a> at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUw1Rzbde5U">one video</a>, published on March 18 (and viewed more than 668,000 times), in which an American doctor claims incorrectly that Africa is less affected by COVID-19 because it’s not a 5G region. The video remained online at the time of publishing this article.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1247374072822071297"}"></div></p>
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<p><em>Correction: this article was amended to make clear that, while millimeter waves lie within the frequency range of 30–300 gigahertz, 5G technology is also rolled out at lower frequencies than this.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley Shanapinda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As if attacks on health workers weren’t upsetting enough, reports indicate broadband engineers are now also being abused - as conspiracy theorists link 5G technology with to COVID-19’s spread.Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1339112020-03-18T02:14:16Z2020-03-18T02:14:16ZCan coronavirus spread through food? Can anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen make it worse? Coronavirus claims checked by experts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321194/original/file-20200318-60906-1hhcnec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C5788%2C3748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Here are some of the top coronavirus and COVID-19 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConversationEDU/photos/a.452035984824035/3282486441778961/?type=3&theater">claims</a> our readers said they’d like to see tested against the research evidence. We asked these public health and infectious disease experts to explain.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>1. Is herd immunity a good strategy?</h2>
<p>Herd immunity is not part of the Australian strategy for controlling the outbreak. On social media there are many people calling for stronger and faster government responses, including “shutting everything down.” There is a particular demand for school closures, which are not currently on the cards in Australia. </p>
<p>Some have claimed the Australian government has plans to rely on “herd immunity” to control the outbreak. That’s not the case. </p>
<p>The decision not to close schools is based on data from China, which show that there’s no sign of children and young people playing a role in “chains” of transmission. In addition, closing schools, without making similar arrangements for working parents, might lead to children being looked after by grandparents, who we need to protect at all costs from exposure to the virus. Also, this could have a major impact on the health workforce, many of whom have school-aged children.</p>
<p>The development of immunity is an important question for the longer term management of COVID-19, the coronavirus at the centre of the pandemic. Eventually, many people who contract the virus will become immune and this will help control its spread. This is not a part of the Australian government’s strategy, and the UK government has clarified that it is not its policy either.</p>
<p>Clinical experience suggests people with mild illness may <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0819-2">develop immunity</a> around seven to ten days after the onset of symptoms. Immunity is measured by monitoring the immune cells that fight the virus. As these cells showed up, the virus was no longer found in nasal swabs, suggesting immunity may also reduce infectiousness.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320030/original/file-20200312-116261-a6ugi0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=2" alt="Sign up to The Conversation" width="100%"></a></p>
<h2>2. Can drinking a lot of water, gargling with warm water and salt or vinegar eliminate the virus? What about drinking lemon in hot water, or other home remedies?</h2>
<p>Myth. Many people have asked what they can do to “boost their immune system” and there’s no shortage of quacks and scam artists happy to answer that question. </p>
<p>Hot drinks with lemon and honey, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-nutrition-could-help-your-immune-system-fight-off-the-coronavirus-133356">vitamin supplements</a>, foods with garlic and ginger, apple cider vinegar, gargling with salt water… none of these things has any impact on your immune response and won’t eliminate the virus.</p>
<p>But if they make you feel calmer and healthier, they can’t hurt. (Except putting vinegar in your nose – that’s not a good time.)</p>
<p>Other myths include that the virus can’t survive above 27ºC (80.6ºF). We can tell this is wrong with a moment’s thought, since it can function in our bodies at 37.5ºC. </p>
<p>Some have claimed that drinking various beverages will help “flush out” the virus, but the virus does its work inside cells. Again, though, hot water with lemon will help you stay hydrated, so it won’t hurt.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321184/original/file-20200318-60901-wcpo4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gargling with salt water won’t eliminate the virus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Do blood pressure medicines worsen the illness?</h2>
<p>Myth. Nobody should stop taking any medication unless advised to by their doctor. </p>
<p>There was recent speculation that some blood pressure medications that target a protein called ACE2 might worsen the course of infection because the virus also targets that protein. </p>
<p>In response, the European Society of Cardiologists had <a href="https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(CHT)/News/position-statement-of-the-esc-council-on-hypertension-on-ace-inhibitors-and-ang">issued a strongly worded statement</a> saying there’s no evidence to support these concerns, and potential for serious harm if people stop taking their blood pressure medication.</p>
<h2>4. What about non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen?</h2>
<p>The World Health Organisation has <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/who-warns-against-use-of-ibuprofen-for-coronavirus-symptoms">urged</a> people who suspect they have COVID-19 to take paracetamol, not ibuprofen. </p>
<p>Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen also attach to this protein. In France, some doctors noted that a number of patients who were admitted to ICU had been taking these drugs. It is not clear whether these patients had other conditions which put them at higher risk of being admitted to ICU, or if the NSAIDs were the only risk factor.</p>
<p>This is <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-19-nsaids-ibuprofen/">hotly-debated</a> and we can expect to hear more about it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-weekly-expert-analysis-from-the-conversation-global-network-133646">Coronavirus weekly: expert analysis from The Conversation global network</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Can the virus stay living on surfaces for nine days?</h2>
<p>We don’t have data on COVID-19, although research on this is likely already happening.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195670120300463">review of studies</a> looking at similar viruses like SARS and MERS found viral particles can last for some time on surfaces — potentially up to nine days. It depends on a number of factors, such as the type of material, the temperature and humidity, and perhaps even how much of the virus was deposited.</p>
<p>Alcohol-based products were found to be effective at removing virus from surfaces. Wiping down surfaces, washing your hands, and avoiding touching your face remain the best things you can do.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321186/original/file-20200318-60885-1yi07x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wiping down surfaces is a good thing to do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Is hand sanitiser not as effective as soap and water?</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://twitter.com/PalliThordarson/status/1236549305189597189">science-y fun fact</a> has been circulating on Twitter, saying soap is better than alcohol at disrupting the lipid layer that surrounds viral particles. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321189/original/file-20200318-60879-1qdh3e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In fact, both soap and alcohol break virus particles apart, but in different ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, both soap and alcohol break virus particles apart, but in different ways. Hand washing also works because it washes viral particles off our hands. </p>
<p>Whether you use alcohol or soap isn’t really important - making sure you wash your hand often and thoroughly definitely is.</p>
<h2>7. Is Australia the next Italy?</h2>
<p>Unlikely. Vivid stories have been circulating about the <a href="https://left.it/2020/03/13/covid_19-open-letter-from-italy-to-the-international-scientific-community/">heartbreaking situation</a> in parts of northern Italy. </p>
<p>However, the lack of testing in Italy makes it hard to know if their outbreak of COVID-19 will be comparable to our own. Australia introduced protective measures much earlier than Italy, including travel deferrals and quarantine for Australians exposed to the virus on cruise ships. It is vital for epidemic control to be based on the facts about our own epidemic.</p>
<p>There is no doubt the COVID-19 outbreak is going to stretch our health system to its limits — but we do not have good reason to fear it will be as bad as stories coming out of Italy.</p>
<h2>8. Does COVID-19 only kill sick people and the elderly?</h2>
<p>Nope. Based on the experience in China and Italy, experts have challenged the belief that severe illness and mortality only affect older people and people with other serious illnesses. Older people are at the highest risk of serious illness, but the risk to younger people is not zero. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321225/original/file-20200318-37441-1f4njq8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At any rate, people in older age groups are valued and very important members of our community, and nobody sees them as expendable. We can all protect them by following prevention advice and self-isolating if we have any reason to believe we may have been exposed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321192/original/file-20200318-60885-hhq5nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The risk to young people isn’t zero.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>9. Can coronavirus spread through food?</h2>
<p>That depends on if someone coughs on your food, or shares your spoon. </p>
<p>Coronavirus spreads via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_(medicine)#Droplet">droplet transmission</a>. When someone coughs or sneezes without a mask, droplets of saliva and mucus can fall within a metre or two of the sick person. Most transmission occurs when these droplets make their way into your mouth, nose, or eyes. That’s why hand hygiene and <a href="https://theoatmeal.com/comics/touch_face">avoiding touching your face</a> are so important.</p>
<p>If you are near someone with coronavirus and they cough over your food, it could potentially make you sick. Sharing cutlery or glasses with people with coronavirus could pass on the infection, as heard on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/coronavirus-is-changing-the-way-we-live-and-work/12061306">ABC 7.30</a>. However, you are unlikely to catch anything from the avocado you pick out of a basket at Woolies as a consolation prize after missing out on toilet paper.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-older-people-more-at-risk-of-coronavirus-133770">Why are older people more at risk of coronavirus?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Harris-Roxas receives funding from NSW Health. In the past he has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, the World Health Organization, the Australian Government Department of Health, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Heart Foundation, NPS MedicineWise, the Sax Institute and the City of Gold Coast.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Reeders, Kathryn Snow, and Trent Yarwood do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s no shortage of myths, scams and spurious claims circulating about coronavirus.Trent Yarwood, Infectious Diseases Physician, Senior Lecturer, James Cook University and, The University of QueenslandBen Harris-Roxas, Associate Professor, UNSW SydneyDaniel Reeders, PhD Candidate, ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National UniversityKathryn Snow, Epidemiologist, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.