10 Coronavirus myths debunked

Things have happened this year that have never happened before, and may never happen again.

The whole country was put into lockdown, 9.6 million people were furloughed from work, schools closed and exams were cancelled.

More than 40,000 people have died as a result of coronavirus in the UK. Many hundreds of thousands have died around the globe.

Along with the conversations about PPE, covid-safe workplaces, and Dominic Cummings’ trip to Barnard Castle, there’s also been a huge amount of mis-information shared through social media and the internet. Many make wild and sometimes dangerous claims about coronavirus: Where it came from, and why it's impacted our lives in such a huge way.

We've debunked some of the biggest myths that have emerged since the pandemic began.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: Covid-19 doesn’t actually exist

Some people claim the coronavirus itself is a hoax. That the whole thing is made up as a way to control us.

They often claim powerful figures, world politicians, the media, and scientists are all in on a big lie to allow them to control what we do, squash our civil rights and maintain their power in society.

They dismiss scientific knowledge as “bogus” and look for obscure or unknown voices on the internet to provide alternate versions of reality.

In reality, coronavirus is very real and has killed many hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

Ask anyone who has had it, grieving families, or any doctor, scientist, coroner, or funeral director who are seeing its effects on a daily basis.

This graph shows the number of deaths we’d normally expect to see in an average year in the UK. Look what happens in March through to June as Covid19 takes its toll.

These deaths were caused by Covid19.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: It's caused or spread through 5G technology

The roll out of the next-gen mobile phone technology was already awash with conspiracy theories, so coronavirus being caught up in it is no surprise.

This was particularly prevalent at the start of lockdown, with attacks on masts, and even those working on installing them.

Some claimed 5G Technology was carrying Covid19 on radio waves and transmitting it into our homes, and the building of masts at the start of the outbreak was the proof.

It wasn’t proof. That’s not how viruses spread: Just ask the World Health Organisation.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: Bill Gates is behind the outbreak and wants to inject us all with microchips as part of his vaccination programme

The Microsoft co-founder is often linked in with conspiracy theories because of his perceived power and wealth. Indeed, he is a very wealthy individual.

The Gates Foundation has been looking into illness, disease and controlling the spread of viruses since its formation in 2000. There are lots of clips of him online sharing his concerns about mass outbreaks, and these are often taken out of context, used to make him sound sinister, or quotes are just completely made up.

This is what Gates told a TED talk on the 3rd April 2015 “If anything kills more than 10 million people in the next few decades, its most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war. Not missiles, but microbes.”

This was a warning, based on research, and not a threat. Watch it for yourself here.

As for microchips being implanted via vaccine into your body, well its simply not true, and is based on a conspiracy video that went viral on social media channel TikTok. The Gates Foundation has talked of using “digital certificates” to register who has had certain vaccines, but that would not include a microchip that transmits data from inside your body.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: Masks do more harm than good

Many people who had accepted the government’s rules around total lockdown decided to wait until lockdown was being eased before launching their own conspiracy theory… That masks were more dangerous than the virus.

Masks have become a requirement on public transport, in shops and many indoor spaces to reduce the amount of particles we breath out into the air, and filter the air we breath in.

They cut the risk of getting the infection, or spreading it to someone else.

The conspiracy claims that masks prevent oxygen reaching your lungs and trap dangerous levels of carbon dioxide in your body. The WHO strongly disagrees.

Doctors and surgeons wear them on a daily basis because of their effectiveness, but some theories go a step further, claiming the masks are a symbol of an oppressed people.

But what is that makes us believe these stories and theories?

Professor Peter Kinderman is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool. He's been telling Senior Correspondent Mick Coyle that often the truth is mundane, and our brains are looking for strange or interesting things that explain the world around us.

Right, lets get back to the myth busting...

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: If you can hold your breath for 10 seconds, you don’t have covid-19

This was an early theory that took hold at the start of lockdown. It appeared to stick because it was a seemingly simple test, based around the idea that coronavirus had such an impact on your breathing it would be impossible to hold your breath for any amount of time.

Again, not true. Some people with coronavirus don’t have any symptoms at all.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: Injecting or ingesting bleach can cure it

DO NOT DRINK BLEACH OR INSERT IT INTO YOUR BODY

We know cleaning surfaces like door handles, handrails and shared computer keyboards regularly are a key component in the fight against Covid, and cleaning products play their part in that.

That is only true when being used as per the instructions on the bottle. They should never be injected or ingested into the human body.

This theory emerged after this press conference from President of the United States Donald Trump. The claims contained within have been widely discredited.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: It only affects the elderly, I’m young, so it won’t get me

The age group with the highest death rate from coronavirus is those over the age of 75, with more than one in five Covid deaths affecting people aged over 90.

More men than women have died in all but one of the age-defined demographics, and there is a clear increase in risk the older you get whether you’re male or female.

Less than 600 people under the age of 44 have died from Coronavirus. That is still a significant number of deaths, but the key factor here is that, although it may not kill as many young people as old, young people can still carry it. There’s a risk of passing it on to a friend, colleague, or family member, who in turn spreads the risk to someone in an older category, who’d be even more at risk.

It might not impact you, but it might impact your co-workers, friends, parents or grandparents.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: You can kill the virus by going out in the sun on a hot day

This one comes from the notion that UV light can kill bacteria left on exterior surfaces.

The same can't be said for what's going on inside your body.

The World Health Organisation are keen to stress that there are plenty of countries that are regularly sunny, with temperatures regularly hotter than 25C, and still have many coronavirus cases.

They also strongly urge people not to use UV Lamps as an alternative to try and “clean” yourself free from Covid.

Coronavirus also exists in places with colder than average climates. Your body is around 37C no matter what the weather or climate is like outside.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: There is already a vaccine, but it's being kept from us

This theory has been swirling around for some time. It doesn’t help when some of the biggest names in the world spread them on their social media.

Instagram blurred the post, and labelled it as “false information” before directing users to a page debunking the myth.

Vaccines can take years to develop, but scientists around the globe are working round the clock to get one produced, which is a time-consuming and complex procedure.

You can track some of those trials via this from The Guardian.

CORONAVIRUS MYTH: Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe was the first famous person to have it

Actor Daniel Radcliffe was “outed” as having contracted Covid 19 on Twitter by what appeared to be a BBC news account. It wasn’t a BBC news account, it just used the broadcaster’s logo to make it look like it was.

The post claimed “BREAKING: Daniel Radcliffe tests positive for coronavirus. The actor is said to be the first famous person to be publicly confirmed.”

It was reposted by prominent journalists in the US, before it was exposed as a hoax. More than 300,000 people saw it.

Within days, Tom Hanks and his wife confirmed they actually DID have the virus, which they picked up filming in Australia, Luther star Idris Elba also revealed he had the virus, as did Bond girl Olga Kurlylenko and John Taylor from Duran Duran.

Now check out the fondest memories from the 2020 lockdown:

For great music, brilliant banter and incredible competitions tune into Northsound 1 on 96.9, 97.6 or 103.0 FM, online, on our Northsound app, your DAB digital radio, or say ‘Play Northsound 1’ on your Smart Speaker. We give you the biggest hits from the world’s hottest artists. You’ll find new favourites every day and hear the songs you've missed from the last few years.

• coronavirus