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For its Monday, April 27, issue, Arabic-language newspaper Akhbar Alyaoum has decided to address the spread of the coronavirus. The newspaper’s columnist Youness Meskine referred in an editorial, titled «The Wuhan Syndrome», to the possible «behind-the-scenes» of the coronavirus spread.
In his article, the journalist spoke about the alleged link between the novel coronavirus and the «5G technology». While he stressed that he has «no scientific clues proving the connection between 5G radio waves and the spread of the virus», he wrote that the link between the two could be based on «two theories».
The first «theory», according to him, alleges that «a Chinese party has taken advantage of the spread of the coronavirus, by leaking it in laboratories or allowing its spread, to hide the disastrous health effects of 5G».
The second «theory», advanced by the journalist, is not very different from the first one. In his article, the columnist reveals that «a Western party, an American one in particular, would have been behind the spread of the virus in China and then in other parts of the world, especially in the areas that have 5G installations, to blame the disastrous health effects of 5G on China».
An unfounded conspiracy theory
The two theories mentioned by the Akhbar Alyaoum columnist are quite familiar, especially for those who have tried to link the coronavirus to 5G technology. Responding to these theories, the World Health Organization (WHO), stressed in its «Myth Busters» section that «5G mobile networks DO NOT spread COVID-19».
«Viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks. COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks», WHO explained, recalling that the virus is «spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks».
Other fact-checking platforms have done the same, including Full Fact. The organization revealed that «there is no evidence that 5G is harmful to humans», unlike the theories surrounding the technology.
«5G is the next generation of wireless network technology, following on from 4G. Like 4G, 3G and 2G before it, 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves—a small part of the whole electromagnetic spectrum», it said, stressing that «these radio waves are non-ionising, meaning they don’t damage the DNA inside cells».
The same conclusions were backed by another fact-checking platform. According to Factcheck Vlaanderen, «it has not been sufficiently proven that 5G technology is harmful to our health, and the coronavirus has nothing to do with it at all». «The coronavirus is the cause of the pandemic we are now experiencing, not an external factor», it concluded.
Violent reactions
Although theories linking 5G to the current international health crisis were deemed unfounded, many people are still sticking to them. In the UK, conspiracy theories linked to 5G have taken a violent turn.
On April 12, a group of people «set more than twenty 5G cellular towers in the United Kingdom on fire», the New Yorker reported. The incident was a way of pointing at the «many conspiracy theories surrounding the spread of the coronavirus». «The basic idea is that 5G, a new generation of wireless communication, is responsible for the coronavirus crisis, and the idea has spread rapidly», the newspaper wrote.
The link between 5G and the new virus has become one of the most widely spread conspiracy theories in the UK, it said, adding that the belief has also spread in other countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States.
To avoid the spread of such belief, and following the arson in the UK, authorities commented on the unfounded «link», calling it «dangerous nonsense», The Guardian reported.
Linking 5G technology and the spread of the Covid-19 is just one of the many conspiracy theories out there that prevent many people from taking the virus seriously and complying with the sanitary measures set up to avoid its spread.
