Disinfo: There is no COVID-19 pandemic, coronavirus is just like the flu

Summary

We don’t know how many fake messages there are these days. There are Italian doctors who have spread information about the coronavirus on the internet, and there is a strong suspicion that what they say is not true. If they took the test away, life would be the same. There would be nothing here at all. There would be no evidence of increased mortality or morbidity or sickness. There is nothing going on at all at the moment.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation attempt to downplay the severity and urgency of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Pro-Kremlin media have spread a variety of false claims to push this message, for example that coronavirus mortality figures are insignificant, that COVID-19 is fake and a political move to install hegemony, and that the virus is safe. 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, with cases being reported in 200 countries, territories and areas. The number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed four million globally with over 280,000 deaths as of 11 May 2020. For a number of reasons, the coronavirus is not just like the flu (for more information, see here). According to new research, each person with the coronavirus appears to infect 2.2 other people, on average. By comparison, the figure for the seasonal flu is roughly 1.3. There are major challenges associated with accurately calculating the COVID-19 death rate, including insufficient data about the denominator (i.e., the number of people who are infected with the virus). Currently, the research consensus indicates that COVID-19 is less deadly than SARS (9.5% mortality) but notably more deadly than the flu (0.1% mortality). 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.

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RT Germany - YouTube (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 191
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/03/2020
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU, Italy, Germany
  • Keywords: coronavirus
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Disinfo: Pentagon-funded biological laboratories involved in creation of Coronavirus

Officials and media outlets have doubts about Pentagon-funded biological laboratories. American laboratories can be involved in creation of Coronavirus.

Mar 19, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory about the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, based on recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about biological weapons. The narratives also resemble a recurring conspiracy theory about the Lugar Lab in Georgia. The virus "2019-nCoV” comes from a family of viruses that include the common cold and viruses such as SARS and MERS. There is no evidence to suggest it was developed artificially in a laboratory as a weapon of mass destruction. A group of public health scientists have condemned rumours and conspiracy theories about the origin of coronavirus outbreak. "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.The authors of The Lancet statement note that scientists from several countries who have studied SARS-CoV-2 “overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, just like many other viruses that have recently emerged in humans. There are numerous similar disinformation cases about coronavirus claiming that Coronavirus was created in a laboratory, or that Coronavirus an Anglo-Saxon biological warning: originates in US labs, is a US provocation against China, Coronavirus is a tool to weaken the Chinese economy, Coronavirus is an attempt by the Anglo-Saxons to control China.

Disinfo: NATO uses COVID-19 to mobilise Western military forces against Russia

NATO uses COVID-19 to mobilise Western military forces against Russia. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has been announced by the World Health Organisation, has led to Western military forces mobilising against Russia. However, the Western “non-brothers” always forget that combat readiness is a normal condition for Russians.

Mar 19, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about NATO, aggressive, anti-Russian Western policies and about coronavirus as a biological weapon. According to the World Health Organization, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Researches done so far show that it is a virus named ”zoonotic”, meaning it is transmitted between animals and people. Read more about Coronavirus here. NATO has repeatedly emphasised that its course is in no way directed against Russia, nor any other state. NATO’s objectives are set out in the 1949 Washington Treaty which forms the legal basis of the alliance. The treaty states that parties “are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security”. NATO’s main mission is not to prepare for war, as Russian media claim, but rather to maintain stability and appropriate levels of defence readiness in its member countries. See more examples of disinformation about Russia and NATO.

Disinfo: Coronavirus is a colour revolution technology

The current coronavirus pandemic can be compare to the technology of “colour revolutions.” In fact, the same technology is being worked out, but with different materials. We get the same technology and the hysteria around it. The training manual is a little bit different, but we see the same signs, the same blanks, and even the same goals. The goal is not to change only one country but the world order to suit someone’s interests. Now, this technology is being developed on a global scale and this is the main problem. We are faced with a new type of weapon of mass destruction, a psychological weapon that affects hundreds of millions of people. It doesn’t affect the lungs, it affects the brain and makes people an ordinary dumb herd, the cattle that run where they are told to run.

Mar 19, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory, no evidence given. One of many recurring Kremlin disinformation narratives claiming that the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus is man-made. Consistent with a narrative suggesting that the West is using biological weapons to stage "colour revolutions" in other countries. COVID-19 is not a biological weapon and it was not developed as an instrument to provoke "colour revolutions". A recent analysis of the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus found no evidence that it was developed artificially in a lab or otherwise engineered. Most probably the disease originated in a Wuhan wet market. The virus comes from a family of viruses originating in animals that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading across the world, with cases being reported in 168 countries, territories and areas by 19 March 2020. Many other claims have been pushed by pro-Kremlin media since the outbreak started in January, for example, that COVID-19 is a biological weapon to make planet's population infertile, that it was born in a laboratory to infect the Chinese, that it is an element of hybrid warfare and that it is a pretext to introduce tyranny by the ruling class.