PANDEMIC OR INFODEMIC?
Conspiracy theories are flooding the globe to such an extent that people are now referring to an INFODEMIC. This article aims to CHECK IT OUT and debunk some of the theories with factual information
(Please note: At this stage this document represents a personal opinion and not necessarily the views of INcontext International)
One of the many dangers of an indefinite lockdown is an emotional shut-down. We become more susceptible to fake-news, conspiracies, and emotional manipulation. It is quite disconcerting how many hoaxes and conspiracy theories surfaced since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and how eagerly they are shared on social platforms. Many people refer to it as an INFODEMIC or even a PANDUMBIC. It is equally alarming to see how many Christians believe it, pass it on without checking and are hijacked into a frenzy of conspiracies. One day we are moved with compassion and the next moment we are pulled into suspicion and mistrust. One day our healthcare workers are heroes and the next day they are part of a global conspiracy of a new world order. Indeed, as Ed Stedzer rightly says: God has not called us to be easily fooled. Gullibility is not a Christian virtue. Believing and sharing conspiracies does not honour the Lord. It may make you feel better, like you are in the know, but it can end up harming others and it can hurt your witness.
Sadly, it mostly takes only a short video clip, an impressive title, and a passionate speaker to convince the masses that we are all victims of an evil plot. It seems like when people say “I’m a Pastor”, “I worked for Vodaphone, so I know”, “I am one of the top ten doctors in the USA”, then the sky is the limit in creating new hoaxes or conspiracies. Here are just a few that recently flooded the Christian social media
- CORONA – 5G AND THE BIGGEST COVER-UP IN HISTORY – A video by a nameless Pastor who claims to have previously worked for Vodafone.
Debunked at https://www.incontextinternational.org/2020/04/02/covid-19-and-5g-biggest-cover-up-in-history-true-or-false/
- RASHID BUTTAR BLASTING BILL GATES, exposing false COVID-19 numbers and placing the complete medical science under suspicion – A video hosted by Next News Network claiming Dr Buttar is one of the top ten doctors on the USA.
Debunked at https://thethirdway.org/evaluating-dr-rashid-buttars-claims-on-the-covid-19-virus/
- A VIDEO BY PASTOR RICK WILES CLAIMING THAT BILL GATES IS BEHIND A NEW QUANTUM DOT TATTOO MICROCHIP aimed at controlling humanity under the guise of a vaccine for the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Debunked at: www.incontextinternational.org/2020/04/22/bill-gates-coronavirus-end-times-conspiracy/
As an investigative journalist, seeking facts and seeking to separate the noise from the news in a factual non-emotional manner, I always seek to get the facts from those who are in the know, who are generally non-biased, have no agenda and who seek the truth. One of the most convincing articles I came across was published on 13 April 2020 by Dr. Jason Shepherd on THE STARTUP – MEDIUM‘s largest active publication (https://medium.com/swlh/misinformation-goes-viral-1aad951e4492), debunking most of the conspiracies currently polluting social media.
True to any research, whether I at first agree with the content or not, I always apply two major principles in my research before publishing the conclusion:
I FACT CHECK THE AUTHOR
- Is he who he claims to be?
In his own words Dr. Jason Shepherd introduces himself as follows:
I’ve found that people “listen” more if you have credentials, so while I’m not a fan of throwing letters at people…here are mine. I have a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. I did my postdoctoral work at MIT and am now an Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Utah . I run a research lab that works on the molecular mechanisms of memory and brain plasticity (www.shepherdlab.org). More recently, we made a surprising discovery between memory and viruses. All of that just means that I spent a long time being trained to problem solve, analyse data and I know a fair amount about biology.
- Is he who he claims to be?
YES. Both Dr Shepherds’ claims and credentials were confirmed by various sources on the internet, especially by the University of Utah
- Is he speaking from his field of expertise?
YES. According to the University of Utah Dr. Shepherd’s research involved the following:
Neurodegenerative Diseases, Neurosciences, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Synaptic Transmission, Synaptic Membranes, Synaptic Plasticity, Learning and Memory, Receptor Trafficking, Immediate-Early Proteins, Endocytosis, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Angelman Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease
There is no doubt that Dr Shepherd is who he claims to be and speaks from a field of expertise that has the necessary skills and information to give a clear and intellectual evaluation of the Coronavirus
I FACT CHECK THE SOURCE
What is the nature of the source?
MEDIA BIAS/FACT CHECK, the most comprehensive media bias resource (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/next-news-network/), describes “MEDIUM”, the platform where the article was published, as:
This media source has a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. We found most (of their stories) were scientifically sound.
- Is the source known for its non-biased reporting?
YES. Even though they have a slight to moderate liberal bias, they do not lean to any extremes and their information is fact-based and not agenda based.
- Can you find the same information somewhere else from a credible source?
YES. Most scientific reports concur with what Dr. Shepherd communicates and sources are shared in his article. The resources used also do not all trace back to one source but is varied and trustworthy.
For the detailed article with all the relevant links visit: https://medium.com/swlh/misinformation-goes-viral-1aad951e4492. Here is a summary of the most important points, debunking most of the COVID-19 conspiracies:
MISINFORMATION GOES VIRAL
By Dr. Jason Shepherd
Self-Isolation has led many to delve into crackpot theories that go from man-made viruses to spread of infections via 5G cell phone towers. Now, those that are rational are already asking the right questions and seeking legit sources of information…but more and more people are losing it. Feel free to use the information in this story to educate your friends. This pandemic is stressful enough without people confabulating nonsense!
All of the links below are public, and I encourage you to read them. In no particular order here are some common themes of misinformation:
- No, YOU did not have COVID19 prior to Jan 2020 (bar the first Chinese patients in Wuhan).
The first documented cases in China were in late November/early Dec 2019. Scientists can “track” the origins of viruses by sequencing their genetic material. Over time, viruses accumulate mutations that make them identifiable. Think of family trees and tracing genetic mutations, this is very similar.
UPDATE: If you are interested in the analysis mentioned in the NYTs article, here’s a great website that traces the sequencing data: https://nextstrain.org/ncov/global and for the US https://nextstrain.org/narratives/ncov/sit-rep/2020-04-17?f_country=USA
- NO, the virus is NOT man-made.
Scientists can compare the sequence of the new virus with other known viruses and determine how similar it is. The most similar virus is a coronavirus found in bats and the differences are due to mutations that occur through natural evolution, rather than an artificial sequence that was suddenly added. There are literally billions of viruses, all with different hosts and life cycles…some mutations allow those viruses to jump into new hosts. The clearest picture so far is that SARS-COV-2 originated from bats and maybe an intermediate host. The most likely scenario is that this jump from an intermediate host happened in the wild animal market in Wuhan (https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30328-7).
In addition, the interaction between the virus spike protein (that make the “crown” of proteins that stick out from the balloon-like membrane) and the human receptor ACE2, which allows the virus to get into human cells, is something that would be extremely hard to engineer given the knowledge at the time
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9).
4/17 UPDATE: There are insinuations that a lab in China working on bat coronaviruses may have let the virus “escape”. There’s a lot of finger pointing by various US agencies, but I’ve yet to see any scientific analysis that makes this claim credible…so far. There’s also precedent for coronaviruses jumping hosts and into humans, both SARS and MERS for example. Indeed, scientists had publicly warned that this would be one of the most probable causes for an international virus outbreak. Here’s a good write up on the evidence for all of this:
A Virologist Explains Why It Is Unlikely COVID-19 Escaped From A Lab
- NO, NUMBERS and MODELS are not deliberately misleading people.
This is a new virus, and nothing was known about it prior to Dec 2019. The good news is that it is similar to the previously known coronaviruses SARS and MERS. But infectivity and mortality were completely unknown. Scientists use models to refine their ideas but no one model is correct. You’re seeing discrepancy in models/projections precisely because science isn’t magic…the more we know about the virus and how it works, infects people etc the better the model.
Mathematics of life and death: How disease models shape national shutdowns and other pandemic…
Conversely, epidemiologists can study past and current data to INFER what will happen in the future. All models point to social distancing as a means to stop spread and indeed this is working
Scientists need to figure out which measures best control Covid-19 – STAT
So no, there’s no conspiracy by scientists to “control the numbers”. While governments might be producing their own propaganda on how they are dealing with the pandemic, there are legit sources of data that are impartial to politics (eg. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/ and https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest).
- NO, COVID is not the flu!
By now, I hope most are convinced. But, here’s a representation of the worst-case scenario happening in NYC right now (with updated numbers 4/16) and it’s scary ! From
As More Death Data Becomes Available, COVID-19 Looks Less and Less Like the Flu
The weekly COVID numbers are compiled from the daily Johns Hopkins numbers pulled from their GITHUB repository. The CDC flu, pneumonia and total death numbers are downloaded from the FluView site here: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/mortality.html.
The CDC flu, pneumonia and total death numbers are downloaded from the FluView site here: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/mortality.html
- NO, Bill Gates is not orchestrating a new world-order.
When he announced that he was going to help develop a COVID vaccine, people went nuts. People started asserting that: Gates wants to kill people with the vaccine; Gates patented the new virus; Gates knew about the virus before the Chinese. Let’s try and use critical thinking skills?! The richest man on earth gave up running a company to devote all his time to a foundation that is dedicated to public health (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/). Go check out their website. No, Gates will not profit off a new vaccine, no he doesn’t want to kill off people with it and NO he isn’t orchestrating some sort of grand plan to take over the world like a Bond villain!
Did Bill Gates Admit Vaccinations Are Designed So Governments Can Depopulate the World?
- NO, the virus is NOT spread by 5G cell phone towers.
First, 5G is just as safe as 4G. And 4G is just as safe as your home microwave. Second, a virus cannot be spread by cell phone towers because viruses, you know, only infect living things. So please don’t go and destroy cell phone towers.
British 5G towers are being set on fire because of coronavirus conspiracy theories
UPDATE: Since I’m now also getting a lot of questions about 5G itself, I thought I would say something here. Cell phones use radio wave frequencies to transmit. If you remember your HS physics, electromagnetic waves include visible light, radio and X-rays. Radio waves carry less energy and are long-forms, X-rays much more energy and shorter. The latter is called ionizing radiation and are dangerous as we all know. The milli- and microwaves are safe, except for the generation of heat (which is how microwaves heat up food).
So, 5G has a little more energy than 4G but has orders of magnitude less energy/harm than visible light. You should be WAY more worried about UV rays from the sun. For more info, see here:
Worried About 5G’s Health Effects? Don’t Be
- NO, scientists did not manufacture the virus.
Health care workers and almost all the scientists I know are working to save lives. There are accusations that scientists manufactured the virus or that we are covering up for big pharma companies. We are not paid off by the government or big pharma! We really just want to help people. Health workers are literally putting their lives on the line under challenging conditions.
Scientists are racing to find treatments and produce a vaccine. Science works by a process and that takes time. You will see announcements that X drug works but often this need repeating and validation. This isn’t because scientists don’t know what they’re doing! For a nice explanation of how this works, see here:
Thread by @jenheemstra: You might have seen a “scientific study” that said chloroquine can cure…
I understand that people are afraid and desperate for good news, but we should all wait for confirmation from the medical community before rushing to conclusions.
- Herd immunity.
I’m loving that anti-vaxxers are now claiming that herd immunity is better than having a vaccine. Well, did you know that vaccines actually WORK by accelerating herd immunity? Yes, that’s right. Herd immunity is when enough people have recovered from the virus to then be immune and cannot reinfect other people or get sick. Now, there’s a lot of uncertainty of how well or how long people recovering from COVID will be immune, but ultimately the only way to control the pandemic is through herd immunity. BUT natural herd immunity will need at least 70% of the total population to be immune. If this is done by just letting the virus spread unchecked, we are talking about millions of people dying world-wide over the next few years. Vaccines accelerate herd immunity without killing people by inducing antibody production that can kill the virus, the same kind of antibody response people achieve after recovering from an infection .
What is Herd Immunity and How Can We Achieve It With COVID-19?
We are all in this together! The internet is a double-edged sword, endless access to information…but often it’s hard to determine what information to pay attention to.
My advice, Keep Calm and listen to Experts!