3 Crazy Conspiracy Theories Surrounding COVID-19

Seeing how a new strain of coronavirus is spreading around the world, a lot of fake news and conspiracy theories about the outbreak have appeared. So what is this virus? A secret biological weapon, evil machinations of the Pentagon to stop the growth of the Chinese economy, or maybe it’s just a mutated virus? Conspiracy theories are popping up like new Starbucks shops in LA, but let’s look at the most prominent ones. Just keep in mind that unlike a scientific theory, you can’t disprove a conspiracy theory, as it will always account for the missing pieces. However, that does not make them real.

1. Biological weapon

On one of the serious scientific sites where scientists publish their work, an interesting article appeared at the end of January. Its authors, a group of Indian Doctors, claimed that there are some sections of proteins in the genetic code of the COVID-19 that suspiciously resemble parts in the code of the human immunodeficiency virus, i.e., HIV. Scientists found four fragments in the structure of the new coronavirus, which have no analogs among the known coronaviruses. According to those Indian scientists, it is likely that someone intentionally crossed two viruses, which immediately led to the emergence of a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was created at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Shortly after the publication, the Chinese scholars issued a full rebuttal. Some days later, the Indian scientists removed their work from the site, but it was too late. The Washington Times picked up the news and ran with it. According to their article, the COVID-19 was developed at the Wuhan Institute as a biological weapon and accidentally broke free. Yeah, I don’t think so. Or maybe the government wants me to believe that?