Joining the list of odd news is the latest claim that says 5G technology is responsible for novel coronavirus! Western social media is brimming with such posts. (Photo Credit: File Photo)
New Delhi:
Coronavirus is caused by this, coronavirus is caused by that... the real reason for COVID-19 infection is...the social media is full of odd theories and bizarre claims about the spread of the novel coronavirus. Despite the best of the efforts by scientists, researchers and health experts, weird stories in name of 'news' are being circulated on the internet. Joining the list of odd news is the latest claim that says 5G technology is responsible for novel coronavirus! Western social media is brimming with such posts. People are citing random news articles and unnamed experts for backing the claim. British tabloids carried and stories about some experts linking the radiation caused by 5G network with the spread of novel coronavirus. (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates)
First up, what has been claimed about the odd link: It all started with news about a 5G tower being set ablaze by angry residents in the UK's Birmingham claiming that the radiation caused by the high-speed network is the real culprit of the pandemic. The local news was picked up by several British tabloids. In no time, unnamed experts also joined the '5G behind coronavirus' chorus. Soon, a video clip went viral on British social media where a woman spoke about the dangers of the 5G network. The Facebook post titled 'Stop 5G UK' linked the technology with COVID-19 infections claiming that 'Wuhan is where 5G was rolled out.' On Twitter, an in a viral video clip, an unidentified woman claimed that 5G ‘sucks oxygen out of your lungs.’ 'On your oxygen molecules, the little electrons, with 5G they start to oscillate. So 5G is absorbing the oxygen and then your haemoglobin can’t take up the oxygen...So how long do you think it’s going to take the human body to fall over because it suddenly cannot take up oxygen into cells?”
So what is the fact? From BBC to other independent media outlets, several fact-checking sites have confirmed that there is no link between novel coronavirus and 5G technology. Those in the field of communication say that similar conspiracies were floated in the market at the time of the launch of 3G and 4G networks.
The guy who collects money at a car park just told me that COVID-19 is a global conspiracy involving 5G, the CIA, Mossad, KGB & the Chinese Secret Service
— nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) April 3, 2020
He should know
Only this time, the 5G technology is linked with the COVID-19 infections. Researchers say that the 'level of radiation from 5G is far below levels of electromagnetic radiation'. That is so low that it cannot cause any damage to cells in the human body. The International Commission on NonIonizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) that is responsible for testing the risks of radio broadcasts have checked the 5G networks and found it safe.
His source: “A friend.”
— Alex Kane (@alexbkane) March 29, 2020
His evidence: No coronavirus in the Caribbean, coronavirus in US and China, which have 5G. (Fact check: there is coronavirus in parts of the Caribbean, but it’s not as bad as the US)
And for those who have been claiming that the only 5G-less places on the Earth are free of coronavirus, well that is not entirely true. Alex Kane a freelance journalist has also debunked this myth. "No coronavirus in the Caribbean, coronavirus in US and China, which have 5G. (Fact check: there is coronavirus in parts of the Caribbean, but it’s not as bad as the US)," he said on Twitter.
