What's with all the Conspiracy Theories swirling around Covid-19?

Do you believe everything (anything?) you read on the internet?

What do you think? Is the media and the government telling us the truth?

Is the Coronavirus a man made Bioweapon? Caused by 5G? Predicted by the Simpsons? Here’s a run down of the most popular conspiracy theories being circulated about the Coronavirus with the all important links to sites debunking them:

Dean Koontz knew all along !

Pages of the book were circulated with relevant passages highlighted – containing the name of the weapon (Wuhan-400) and “around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe”.  Definitely freaky stuff!  

Written by Dean Koontz "The Eyes of Darkness" was published 39 years ago in 1981, a very long time before the Coronavirus and the Internet. 

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Darkness-Thriller-Dean-Koontz/dp/0425224864)

Seafood market origin or a level four biosafety laboratory?

Although the Chinese health authorities and WHO agree most cases were linked to a seafood market, skeptics in online forums are posting about suspicions the virus could have originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.  These skeptics report this is the location of China’s only level-four bio-safety laboratory …

Claim: https://www.foxnews.com/media/steve-bannon-tom-cotton-coronavirus-origin-theory-china

Debunked: https://www.vox.com/2020/3/4/21156607/how-did-the-coronavirus-get-started-china-wuhan-lab

Is your 5G connection the connection?

Not only did the virus surface in China in November, but you will never guess what else happened in China in November?

They switched on some of their 5G networks.  And now we are all at home trying to stop the spread of the virus.  Coincidence??? Yeah I think so. 

Claim: https://twitter.com/KeanaShonnay/status/1243202835870822401?s=20

Debunked: https://fullfact.org/online/wuhan-5g-coronavirus/

The Simpsons do it again and predict Covid-19

Being one of the longest running scripted series on TV, the Simpsons have already been credited with predicting the 9/11 attacks and Donal Trump running for the US Presidency. There are rather a lot of episodes (629 have aired to date) to enjoy while looking for predictions...

Claim: https://www.mamamia.com.au/simpsons-predict-future

Debunked: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/simpsons-predict-coronavirus

Is Fluffy my cat or Bongo my dog a superspreader?

As dog owners, taking our dog for daily walks is one of the highlights of our day!  To hear we could be living with a furry superspreader of Covid-19 isn’t good news!  Reports from Hong Kong health authorities did report a dog beloning to a woman who tested postive for Covid-19 also tested “weak positive” ….

Claim: https://pets.webmd.com/news/20200303/your-pets-unlikely-to-get-or-give-coronavirus

Debunked:  https://fullfact.org/online/pets-coronavirus-facebook/

I hope you enjoyed the conspiracy theories listed above ... the websites that debunk them are a great source of information, one's I'm going to add to my favourites when I'm not sure about, yet another, link I get from WhatsApp.