Bat Soup, A Secret Vaccine, Thousands Dead? The Coronavirus Myths We Need To Shut Down

Here’s what we know.

Since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, coronavirus has infected more than 42,000 people and killed 1,007, with 99% of cases found in China.

Two dozen other countries have reported 393 cases of the virus, with one death in the Philippines.

In the UK, eight people have tested positive for the virus, while hundreds of Britons in Wuhan were evacuated back to the country and put into quarantine.

But while authorities focus on stopping the spread of coronavirus, some clear lines of disinformation about the disease have emerged – especially on social media.

Here they are – and the reasons you shouldn’t believe them.

1. The coronavirus outbreak was manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry to flog a vaccine.

With so little knowledge about where the coronavirus had come from, conspiracy theories about its origins were given plenty of space to germinate.

In particular, the idea that the virus was deliberately circulated in order to force people to buy a vaccine found popularity among those on the internet looking desperately for a source.

One of the most widely-shared tweets comes from YouTuber Jordan Sather, who described coronavirus as a “fad disease”, adding “funny enough, there was a patent for the coronavirus was [sic] filed in 2015 and granted in 2018”.

The new fad disease called the “coronavirus” is sweeping headlines.



Funny enough, there was a patent for the coronavirus was filed in 2015 and granted in 2018.https://t.co/qqKRSptDgf — Jordan Sather (@Jordan_Sather_) January 22, 2020

Was the release of this disease planned?

Is the media being used to incite fear around it?

Is the Cabal desperate for money, so they're tapping their Big Pharma reserves?

Are there vaccines already being manufactured to "fight" this?



Coordinated all along? — Jordan Sather (@Jordan_Sather_) January 22, 2020

Sather is affiliated with QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory group revolving around an alleged “deep state” plot against Donald Trump.

His questions about coronavirus have been seized upon by those keen to believe in a cover-up around the disease.

Even a focused search for just the phrase “coronavirus patent” reveals hundreds of tweets raising suspicions.

From anti-vaxxers to Trump supporters claiming the virus is a tactic to disrupt the US president’s re-election campaign, the theory that the virus was purposefully spread in the wake of a patent being granted on a vaccine has been shared over and over online.

Except it isn’t true.

Starting to get it?



Patent virus✅

Push vax✅

Profit✅

Repeat✅ https://t.co/8aepiH5VnL — sally (@sallyKP) January 25, 2020

CORONAVIRUS is a Patented Virus: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation One of the Primary Owners. Deep State Released the Virus to create Chaos Since Nothing Stopping Trump? #FactsMatter #JusticeIsComing https://t.co/PsFd5vzkxP — Ken Jones⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@sxdoc) January 23, 2020

Yes, there is a patent: it was filed by the Surrey-based Purbright Institute, a research centre monitoring viruses in farm animals, and viruses that spread from animals to humans.

Addressing the misinformation spread about the patent, Purbright has released a lengthy statement on its website which clarifies that its coronavirus research extends to viruses affecting poultry and pigs – not the variation that has emerged in humans.

“The patented work was not funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” the statement makes clear.

It’s important to remember that coronavirus isn’t one disease – it’s a group of viruses. The current coronavirus, believed to have originated in Wuhan, is the seventh identified type.

The reason the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being dragged into this, incidentally, traces back to its listing on the Pirbright Institute’s website as a “major stakeholder”. By the end of 2018, the foundation – which supports a multitude of projects spanning the globe – had paid out more than $50b (£38m) in grants.

There’s also the small matter of the fact no vaccine has yet emerged, but there’s no reason to let facts get in the way of a good misinformation campaign.

2. 112,000 people have died, and more than 2m have been infected.

One of the more popular suggestions to have surfaced online is that the Chinese government has vastly suppressed the true numbers of people infected and killed, with “estimates” of the dead reaching over 100,000 according to some conspiracy theorists.