Coronavirus and the plague: The disease of viral conspiracy theories
Contrary to what you might have heard, the novel coronavirus was not developed in a Chinese or US military lab. Albanians are not genetically immune to the virus. And Bulgarian Prime Minster Bojko Borissov does not have a mystical aura that protects him from contracting COVID-19 — even if a fortune teller has claimed so on national television.
Countless unsubstantiated coronavirus claims have been circulating lately, ranging from the entertainingly absurd to the shockingly outlandish. YouTuber Dana Ashlie, for example, recently posted videos online to explain what she claimed was the real reason behind the virus outbreak. Ashlie, who has hundreds of thousands of YouTube and Facebook followers, claimed that COVID-19 emerged because 5G mobile technology was rolled out in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak.
Read more: Coronavirus, cold, or flu symptoms: When should I see a doctor?
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Food donations drop
Panic-buying has left empty shelves in supermarkets — and food banks. With Germans snapping up canned goods and toilet paper to weather the outbreak, stores have fewer supplies left over to donate to the needy, said Jochen Brühl, head of Tafel Deutschland, which supports more than 1.5 million people with surplus groceries and other donations. Brühl encouraged those who had overreacted to donate.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Ghost games for the Bundesliga
Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged that all events with more than 1,000 participants be called off. The German Football League (DFL) has said it plans to consult with clubs and authorities to decide whether teams will play matches in empty stadiums, saying health was a “top priority.” Fans have already been barred from Wednesday’s Bundesliga match between FC Cologne and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Culture cancellations
Cultural life has also taken a hit, with major fairs and trade shows canceled or postponed. Among the casualties was the Leipzig Book Fair and the Musikmesse Frankfurt, Europe’s biggest music trade fair. Clubs and galleries have put off events across the country, and the gala award show for the annual German film and television award, the Goldene Kamera, has been moved to November.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Most schools open, for now
Unlike in Italy, schools across Germany remain open, though there have been localized closings in certain hot spots. The German Teachers’ Association has estimated that around 100 schools and day care centers across the country were currently affected. Baden-Württemberg’s education minister said the state was preparing for the possibility of postponing school leaving examinations.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Not the ‘Wuhan flu’
The Chinese origin of the virus has led to an increase in xenophobic sentiment in the places worst hit by the outbreak. Asian restaurants and stores — not just Chinese — have reported empty tables in Western countries like the US and Italy, and people with Asian features have experienced discrimination. At a recent Bundesliga game in Leipzig, a group of Japanese fans was ejected from the stadium.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Flights grounded
German airline Lufthansa has reduced its flight capacity by 50% because of the coronavirus outbreak, grounding 150 planes and canceling some 7,100 flights through the end of March. The airline said its summer schedule will also likely be cut back. The cancellations are due in part to decreased demand: business travel is down, with more people working from home and avoiding unnecessary travel.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Car production crippled
Car plants in China have been shut down since January, and major German automakers like Volkswagen and Daimler have said both sales and production have been hit by the epidemic. And with many automakers sourcing electric car parts from China, work at plants in Germany has also hit a stumbling block. Berlin has said it plans to financially support companies suffering coronavirus losses.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Fewer tourists
“The consequences for the German tourism sector are serious,” warned Guido Zöllick, head of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association. In a recent survey of its members, 76.1% have reported a sharp decrease in bookings and a drop in revenue. In Berlin, the German parliament has announced that tourists won’t be allowed to access the glass dome of the Reichstag building until further notice.
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How is coronavirus affecting life in Germany?
Border checks
After Italy and France, Germany has the largest number of coronavirus cases in Europe. In an effort to prevent further spread, authorities in Poland and the Czech Republic have begun spot checks, measuring the temperature of travelers crossing main road borders out of Germany. Poland plans to extend the controls to other railway and port crossings.
With COVID-19, or SARS-CoV-2, dominating the headlines, it is hardly surprising that coronavirus misinformation is on the rise. That’s why the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a dedicated website to dispel unsubstantiated claims about coronavirus cures and how the pathogen spreads.
Long history of conspiracy theories
Historically, the outbreak of pandemics has always been accompanied by the dissemination of rumors and conspiracy theories.
But what, exactly, defines the latter? Professor Michael Butter, who teaches at the University of Tübingen, says conspiracy theories tend to claim that a group is clandestinely plotting to control and destroy an institution, a country or the entire world.
The Black Death
In the 14th century, when the plague ravaged Europe, nobody knew how the illness had originated. Soon after, unfounded rumors surfaced that Jews caused the outbreak by poisoning wells in a bid to control the world. Jewish people were accused of being behind the plague — and were subjected to deadly pogroms and forcefully displaced.
Read more: Opinion: We need to deal with our coronavirus panic
‘Spanish flu’: Patients in Fort Riley, Kansas (USA), in 1918
1918 influenza pandemic
Between 1918-1920, the so-called Spanish flu killed between 25 and 50 million people — making it more lethal than World War I, which ended the same year the influenza pandemic began. As the origins of the virus outbreak remained a mystery until the 1930s, some people believed the pathogen had been developed by the German army to use as a weapon.
East Germany’s beetle infestation
When a Colorado potato beetle infestation in 1950 threatened to wipe out all of East Germany’s potato crops, the country’s socialist leadership was quick to blame the US. In an attempt to distract from its own failures, East Germany accused the US of having orchestrated the beetle infestation to sabotage its economy.
Operation Detrick
The onset of the AIDS epidemic in the US during the 1980s was accompanied by an elaborate Soviet disinformation campaign. In 1983, the Soviet secret service KGB spread the rumor that the US had developed AIDS at Fort Detrick as a biological weapon and tested it on prison inmates, ethnic minorities and gay people. It also claimed the US was deliberately deflecting blame by saying the disease had originated on the African continent.
In 1985, Russian-born German biology professor Jakob Segal even published a pseudo-scientific study to back up the conspiracy theory. And even though many biologists and medical experts dismissed the unfounded claims as nonsense, the conspiracy theory remains popular today.
Read more: Coronavirus scare: When will ‘hamsterkauf’ become an English word?
Ticks getting under the skin of conspiracy theorists?
Once again, the US is blamed
By the mid-1990s the Soviet Union had collapsed, and national health agencies had largely gotten the AIDS outbreak under control. At this time, however, Africa experienced a major Ebola outbreak. Many conspiracy theorists who had falsely claimed AIDS was created in US military labs, now claimed the Ebola virus was a bio-weapon developed by the US or Great Britain.
Another conspiracy theory in the US military and ticks. In 2019, Republican Congressman Chris Smith called on the Pentagon to release classified documents about a supposed weaponized ticks program. Smith referred to a recent book that claimed the program, which supposedly ran between 1950 and 1975, had allowed the tick-borne Lyme disease to get out of control.
Digital age amplifies misinformation
A whole host of diseases has been blamed on secret US biological weapons programs. Although some conspiracy theorists have suggested that COVID-19 is an artificially engineered Chinese bioweapon.
These, and other conspiracy theories, however, rely on arguments that are never weighted in evidence. The conspiracies tend to emerge in the early stages of a pandemic — when little is known about a pathogen’s origin and spread.
The digital revolution, meanwhile, has amplified the dissemination of rumors and disinformation. Online posts are shared much quicker on social media and through messenger apps than any medical or health authority can refute them. The digital age has allowed conspiracy theories to go viral.
COVID-19 can only be contained by studying it scientifically, practicing good hygiene and ensuring those infected receive adequate medical treatment. Similarly, education and media literacy, as well as good mental health, should be promoted to be in line with how we consume information in the digital age.
Some online trolls have even suggested downing a Corona beer to combat irrational coronavirus-related fears. While this has not been proven to help, it may provide a soothing effect in the meantime.
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Coronavirus: The consequences for tourism
Travel warnings and border controls
The Czech Republic (picture) and Poland are carrying out checks at the border with Germany to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Since Monday (March 9), travelers have faced random temperature checks. The German government has warned against travelling to risk areas. And air passengers from China, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Italy will have to expect controls when entering Germany.
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Coronavirus: The consequences for tourism
Italy in crisis
On March 8 the Italian government issued an entry and exit ban for the more than 15 million inhabitants of the northern Italian regions, which include the key business center Milan and the tourist magnet of Venice (photo). Cultural, sporting and religious events are also banned for visitors. Museums, cinemas and theaters remain closed nationwide.
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Coronavirus: The consequences for tourism
Cruises a risk factor
Repeatedly cruise ships have to be quarantined or prevented from docking. After cancellations in Thailand and Malaysia, the Costa Fortuna (photo) with 2,000 passengers, including 64 Italians, has been allowed to enter the port of Singapore. In Oakland, California, 2,000 passengers and 1,100 crew members of the Grand Princess are quarantined because 19 of them have tested positive for COVID-19.
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Coronavirus: The consequences for tourism
Asia fears dramatic setbacks
Sights in Asia are particularly affected by travel restrictions for Chinese tourists. Hotspots such as the Senso-ji temple (picture) in Tokyo and the temple complexes of Angkor Wat in Cambodia are reporting a sharp drop in visitors. On March 9, the Ministry of Tourism in Thailand reported a 44% drop for February. Tourism accounts for 11% of the gross domestic product.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-and-the-plague-the-disease-of-viral-conspiracy-theories/a-52700321?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf