It is completely unjustified to portray COVID as a killer virus that it simply isn’t. […] I don’t know why the government continues to govern this way. Possibly to justify their hard approach – namely also that of wearing mask is, in my opinion, nothing more than to keep up with the epidemic mood. There is nothing going on, nothing at all. No corona activity for a long time is going on. […] It is not clear to me what this is all about … except, as I said, to keep the epidemic mood going and what is behind it is not clear to me, why this is made. In my opinion, it is completely absurd and should be stopped at any time, both the wearing of the masks and the testing – there is no point in any of it at all.
Interview downplays downplay the severity and urgency of the COVID-19 outbreak and the imposed measures of the German government The statements were published in a video interview at RT Deutsch and generated a high level of attention in social media. The author of the statements is a German physician, who had previously attracted attention with controversial statements on the subject of COVID-19. In the video interview, the RT-moderator does not refute or question the doctor's theses. The disinformative narratives remain unquestioned. According to this narrative, COVID-19 restrictions introduced by the German government – such as lockdowns, quarantines, wearing masks, testing for COVID-19 are irrational and absurd, and pursue hidden goals of the government. Pro-Kremlin media have spread a variety of false claims to push this message, for example that COVID-19 is a fake epidemic manufactured by the media, that COVID-19 is fake and a political move to install hegemony, that the virus is safe, and that the coronavirus pandemic is exaggerated in order to establish fascist hygiene dictatorships. This narrative aims to discredit actions taken by the World Health Organisation and by individual countries to stop the spread of the new disease. It is not true that COVID-19 is not a “killer virus”. The novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, belongs to a family of viruses originating in animals that include others such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the city of Wuhan in central China in late 2019 and has been rapidly spreading across the world ever since. The number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 32,730,947 globally with over 991,224 deaths as of September 27, 2020. However, the death rate aside, the major concern with the COVID-19 pandemic is its potential to overwhelm national healthcare systems, resulting in even more deaths because patients cannot receive treatment as hospitals exceed capacity. Thus, flattening the curve and limiting the spread of the virus - which is highly transmittable - is recommended as an essential precautionary measure by international health authorities, including the WHO. Read similar cases claiming that COVID-19 is an ordinary flu epidemic and that media and politicians are fuelling hysteria, that governments are exaggerating the death toll of the coronavirus, and that ruling élites are spreading coronavirus panic in order to gain unlimited powers and to actively interfere in the economy.