As COVID-19 swept through the world, so did rumors about its main cause and its manner of transmission and one that continued online is that 5G technology is causing the illness.
A CNET report specified that "influencers and Russia are pushing conspiracy theories that associate COVID-19 to the new ultrafast wireless technology. These theories though, as indicated in the report, are absolutely wrong.
A new one comprises vaccines in some way being connected to 5G tracking. Both are totally wrong. First, radio waves cannot develop a virus which is what's causing COVID-19. More so, if one wanted to track an individual, his hone is more likely culprit compared to radio transmitters that are quite too large to fit into a syringe.
However, that has not prevented threats against broadband engineers and probable arson attacks against United Kingdom towers, instigating carriers in the UK to ask people to prevent burning the towers, as well as the national medical director of the UK to call out the 5G conspiracy theory as "complete and utter nonsense," Reuters reported.
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Andreas Kaufmann and doctor Barbara Dohmen hold up posters declaring concerns on the 5G mobile standard to be harmful to health as they demonstrate in front of the German Federal Network Agency (BNA, Bundesnetzagentur) in Mainz, western Germany, prior to the start of Germany's auction for the construction of an ultra-fast 5G mobile network on March 19, 2019.
Conspiracy Theory
365 News Channel said in a similar report, the United States Department of Homeland Security released a warning in 2020 about the probable danger to wireless equipment. More so, communications networks are critical in the fight against the global health crisis.
The conspiracy theory concerning COVID-19 has spread on social media. For example, American singer Keri Hilson, who has 4.2 million followers on Twitter, posted numerous tweets in April last year, that tried to associate the virus to 5G. Specifically, she wrote, people have been attempting to "warn us about 5G for years."
Hilson also said, "petitions, organizations, research," what people are growing through is the effects of radiation. 5G launched in China in November 2019, and "people dropped dead."
Also in November, actor Woody Harrelson became the most recent celebrity to misleadingly link 5G to COVID-19. On an Instagram post, he shared an article that stated, while he has not fully examined rumors that link 5G technology to the pandemic that's sweeping the world. Commenting on the article, he said, he finds it interesting.
An Initiative to Depopulate the World?
In March last year, Ben Mackie, a Facebook user falsely linked 5G to COVID-19 claiming in part that it is not actually a virus. He wrote, "they are trying to get you scared" of a fake virus when it's the 5G towers being constructed globally.
The FB user also claimed that, Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder invented the technology and that it is an initiative "to depopulate the world."
More so, Mackie said vaccines currently being developed in the fight against COVID-19 are actually "chips" that will be embedded in humans.
Meanwhile, the Colorado School of Public Health Dr. Jonathan Samet said, the story about 5G has no credibility scientifically, and is definitely a potential distraction, as is other such wrong information from curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, Brendan Carr, who's serving the Federal Communications Communication, tweeted that the effort of Hilson to connect 5G to COVID-19 is straight from the most hazardous depths of tin foil hat land.
He added COVID-19 results from a virus that's transmitted by person-to-person contact, not by radio waves. He reiterated too, that the Food and Drug Administration, FCC, and Environmental Protection Agency all claim 5G is safe.
Health Impact of 5G
Ever since firms initially began to talk about 5G, there have been apprehensions expressed by some individuals about the health impact of the said technology.
One 5G version also known as millimeter wave, is running on extremely high-frequency radio waves. Such signals cannot travel long distances, which necessitates towers to be placed close together, not to mention, installed on more locations.
That has reignited concerns that the radio waves could generate harmful radiation that could result in brain cancer, decreased fertility, headaches, as well as other diseases.
According to the FDA and FCC, there is nothing to worry about as studies have found an association between radio delinquency signals from cell towers or cellphones and disease.
However, since 5G is relatively new, there is no specific way to know if it will cause long-term health issues. The health experts added, what can be stated is that 5G is not causing or spreading a virus.
Related information about the link between 5G and COVID-19 is shown on ABC TV & iview's YouTube video below:
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