Sick YouTube coronavirus videos claiming ‘5G caused COVID-19’ rack up MILLIONS of views
A YOUTUBE video claiming 5G has caused the coronavirus outbreak has some people convinced that their devices could kill them.
The video was filmed earlier this month at a US health conference and has been heavily criticised for spreading bogus information during a very real crisis.
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What is 5G?
Here's what you need to know...
- The term 5G stands for 5th-generation, and is simply the next "version" of mobile phone networks.
- The world's network operators have settled on a new method of delivering mobile internet to your phone, making it possible to offer far higher download speeds.
- Early figures suggest you'll be able to download 4K movies in a matter of seconds, and buffering video will be a thing of the past.
- But 5G also promises low "latency" – the physical delay in transmitting data – which is a major boon for gamers, who desperately need their online actions to be sent and received as quickly as possible.
- EE is first across the line in the UK, with 5G live in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham or Manchester.
- The good news is that EE plans to roll out 5G in a further 10 cities by the end of 2019: Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry and Bristol.
- Vodafone has also switched on 5G in seven cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, and London.
The video shows a presentation by Dr. Thomas Cowan and was published by the account Parents for Healthcare Rights.
During his presentation Cowan claims that Africa was not as affected by the coronavirus outbreak because it is "not a 5G region".
However, since the video was published the World Health Organization has confirmed over 600 cases of COVID-19 in Africa.
The claims have largely been slammed and debunked online but that hasn't stopped some people taking to Twitter trying to prove Cowan's point.
One person : "So there is no #Coronavirus the virus is a scam...its actually 5G towers killing us and Wuhan were the first to be affected.. China built over 100,000 5G towers.
"It was actually planned years ago to depopulate and keep a low vibrational state. Just did my research."
This tweet and others similar are receiving a large number of likes and retweets.
There are also those that are highlighting that 5G should not be connected to the respiratory virus.
According to the HuffPost, Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association said: "COVID-19 is caused by a virus that came through a natural animal source and has no relation to 5G or any radiation linked to technology."
Other people have stressed that the human race had faced deadly virus outbreaks way before the invention of mobile phones.
This includes the 1918 Spanish flu that ended up infecting around 500 million people.
We have reached out to YouTube for comment.
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Have you spotted any reports linking coronavirus to 5G? Let us know in the comments...
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