COVID-19 pandemic

The 2019-21 COVID-19 outbreak (also known as the (coronavirus pandemic) is an ongoing pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (formerly 2019-nCoV) coronavirus, hence the disease's name COVID-19.[2] The virus was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China around December 2019. Initially thought of as a mysterious case of pneumonia,[3] it was quickly identified as a new disease in January 2020.[4] Since then, the virus has spread from a relatively small initial infection to over 101,098,771 cases (and over 2,180,867 deaths) as of January 28, 2021.[5] The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that some studies put the mortality rate at 0.6%[6] (there is substantial uncertainty about this estimate)[7], which is higher than ordinary influenza but quite a bit lower than other coronavirus infections such as SARS.[8] Mortality is not to the sole cause of concern for COVID-19, as there is a possibility of lasting health effects following infection,[9] although this has not been researched in depth as an overwhelming majority of people testing positive (up to 80%)[10] has experienced no symptoms whatsoever, leading scientists to only focus on most severe cases that required hospitalisation. There have been isolated reports of reinfection.[11]

Live, reproduce, die Biology

Life as we know it

Genetics Evolution Fundamental unit of life: The cell Zoology Botany

Divide and multiply

Acceptance of evolution in Christian institutions of higher education Amino acid Halomonadaceae Phenotype Vegetarianism

Greatest Great Apes

Alfred Russel Wallace Conrad Hal Waddington Eva Jablonka Frans de Waal Stephen Jay Gould v - t - e

Deaths from COVID-19 mostly occur among older people — the median age of COVID death is ranging between 79 (USA) and 86 years old (Canada).[12] In Sweden, which adopted a "herd immunity" strategy, out of 5837 deaths, only 73 were of people younger than 50 years old.[13] The infection rate, seemingly paradoxically, makes it far more dangerous to society at large. More lethal diseases tend to burn out, killing their hosts too quickly to effectively spread, and in the absence of any hosts, the virus naturally dies out. It has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization[14] and has caused severe disruptions and lockdowns, initially in China, [15] but then spreading to multiple nations around the globe, to the point where a third of the global population was on lockdown at one point. [16]

Unfortunately, panic, misinformation, racism, and quackery related to COVID-19 have spread through social media all over the globe far faster than the virus itself. Also, whether or not true, the reactions of President Donald Trump have led to what University of Chicago economics professor Austan Goolsbee calls the "pathological irony of crisis":[17]

“”If you lose credibility, your statements begin to mean the opposite of what you say. In other words: Entreaties to "remain calm" instead get interpreted as reasons to panic, even when calm might be justified.

—Catherine Rampell[18]

Symptoms

COVID-19 has symptoms similar to influenza.[19] The most common symptoms are:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Fatigue
• Loss of smell or taste
• Shortness of breath

Other symptoms with varying frequency include:

• Headache
• Muscle or joint pain
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure, though it's important to note that many infections are completely asymptomatic. The CDC now estimates that up to 35% of cases involve no symptoms. Symptoms are highly variable.

Complications

Severe complications known to be caused by COVID-19 infection include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ failure, and strokes (to name a few).[20][21] People in higher-risk categories are more likely to experience these problems. Children who contract COVID-19 can also experience multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

Long COVID

Evidence is emerging that people who have had COVID can go on to develop a variety of health problems. This includes cardiovascular and lung issues, acute kidney injuries, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, depression, and anxiety.[22][23]

What science says

Due to the novelty of the disease and the rapid spread of the disease in China, COVID-19 is considered a health emergency and is being evaluated by all major health organizations around the world.[24] SARS-CoV-2, the source of the disease, is a betacoronavirus, a virus known to mainly infect bats. Although the details are unclear at this time, it is suspected that this virus underwent zoonosis — i.e. it crossed over from an animal (almost certainly a bat) to humans.[25]

SARS-CoV-2 spreads via respiratory droplets or aerosols (suspensions of these droplets in the air) produced when an infected person coughs, talks or sneezes.[26] Airborne transmission can occur indoors, particularly in more crowded and less ventilated settings. The virus has proven to be more contagious than other coronaviruses such as SARS or MERS, in some ways behaving more like influenza.[27][28] Unfortunately, once infected, the full clinical picture with COVID-19 is not completely understood at this time.[24] While many people have had only mild symptoms, for some the disease has been deadly. Thus, the potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is high, in part because of the current uncertainty. Of note though: the disease so far statistically is more lethal among the elderly, smokers and people with existing chronic health conditions (such as heart disease, diabetes or COPD.) [29]

Antiviral medications have been used on COVID-19 patients, but it's not yet clear whether or how much they help. Antibiotics can treat secondary infections such as pneumonia.[30]

Prevention

Preventing COVID-19 is a challenge because infected people may not realize that they are infected, so they may unwittingly spread the disease instead of staying home or contacting a doctor.[31] The CDC has begun testing patients with flu-like symptoms for the virus in order to help contain it.[32]

Because the transmission method is similar to flu, prevention methods are also similar to flu (and other respiratory viruses).[33][34][35]

• Wash your hands regularly using soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects
• Cover coughs and sneezes
• Never spit in public
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay at least 2 meters (6 feet) away from people who are sick
• Call a doctor if you have a fever, cough, and difficulty breathing
• Stay home and avoid other people if you're sick
• Wear a mask or other face-covering when you leave home

Due to the frequency of asymptomatic infections and mild COVID-19 cases being mistaken for cold or flu, in order to effectively mitigate the virus, you must assume that everyone is potentially infected, including yourself, and treat them as such. Hence the need for masks and social distancing in any public space.

Vaccines

As of December 2, 2020, Tozinameran, an mRNA vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, has been approved for usage starting in the UK, and followed by the US on December 11. Other vaccines are in late-stage clinical trials and are expected to be submitted for approval shortly.

Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine received emergency use authorization in the United States on December 18, 2020.[36] However, the vaccines are currently in short supply, with various nations beginning their vaccination programs focusing on healthcare workers and high-risk individuals, specifically the elderly in long term care homes. Availability is expected to improve within months, especially as other vaccines are approved.

AZD1222b, the adenovirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, was approved by the UK and Argentina on December 30.[37][38]

Ad26.COV2.S, an adenovirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceutical in collaboration Beth Deaconess Israel Medical Center, is currently undergoing its Phase III clinical trial. Unlike Moderna and Pfizer's vaccines, which require two doses over a period of several weeks, this vaccine involves only one dose. Its applications for emergency use in South Africa and Canada and to the European Medicines Agency are pending.

Sputnik V, a double adenovirus vector vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was first approved in Russia in August 2020, however, it was not until February 2nd, 2021, that data was made publicly available in The Lancet. Trial results showed a 91.6% efficacy rate, and subsequently, 21 countries have approved it for emergency use, including the UAE, Turkey, Israel, India and Mexico.

Summary of vaccine candidates

Name	Developers	Type	Doses	Approved in
Tozinameran	Pfizer and BioNTech	mRNA	2; booster after 21 days	Many, including US, UK, Argentina
mRNA-1273	Moderna	mRNA	2; booster after 28 days	US and Canada
AZD1222b	AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford	Adenovirus vector	Likely 2 doses; pending further trials [39]	UK, Argentina, India [37][40]
Ad26.COV2.S	Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceutical and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	Adenovirus vector	1	Pending for EU, Canada

Mortality risk

Most people who become infected will survive. WHO says studies put coronavirus mortality rate at 0.6%,[6] with other estimates ranging from 0.16-4.9%.[41] The variability in death rates has been attributed to the availability of care facilities, which in Wuhan at 4.9% were particularly overtaxed.[41] This compares with the seasonal-flu death-rate of 0.1%.[42] Mortality rates, while apparently less than those of the 14th-century Black Death or the 1918 influenza, may still make COVID-19 the most devastating 21st-century pandemic. Because the virus is highly infectious, the total number of deaths is likely to be quite high. Also, besides the uncertainty in the estimate[43], there is likely to be higher death rates for people with co-morbidities (e.g. respiratory disease, heart disease or diabetes), and for people without adequate access to quality healthcare.[44]

The fatality risk is higher in senior citizens and amongst people with certain health conditions (including cardiovascular disease, immune conditions like HIV, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, hypertension, and cancer).[45] While these people still have at least a 75% chance of survival if infected,[46] they and their loved ones should take extra care to reduce the risk of infection.

While people who are young and healthy are very unlikely to die, they should still practice good hygiene to protect themselves and those around them. Indeed, the common idea that the spread of the disease isn't that serious since only some people are likely to die is incredibly callous, and often brutally ableist against those with chronic conditions or ageist against the elderly. In fact, this argument fundamentally underestimates both the nastiness of the disease and the number of elderly/chronically ill people in society and the incredible transmissibility of the virus because of its relatively low mortality-rate. Despite old-school SARS having a much higher mortality rate, COVID-19 has killed far more people — the fact that it does not kill many of its (sometimes asymptomatic) carriers in fact only allows it to spread further.[47]

Causation myths

Unscientific 5G fears

See the main article on this topic: 5G

“”Harmless radiation has a large wavelength, too gentle to harm your molecular structure. (Think of it like the difference between gently rocking a baby to sleep versus shaking a baby at high speeds: one is safe and the other is definitely not.)

—Luna Rose at wikiHow[48]

Some people, such as conspiracy theorist Kerry Cassidy, believe that 5G radiation causes coronavirus. These people understand neither radiation nor viruses.

Only some forms of radiation are dangerous. "Ionizing" radiation, the dangerous kind, is high-energy with a wavelength so short it can disrupt electrons and break molecular bonds. Exposure to this radiation is bad for you because it can break apart your molecules and DNA. "Non-ionizing" radiation has a long wavelength and has less energy, so it can't disrupt anything. And 5G is non-ionizing, with a wavelength comparable to microwaves and radio stations.[49]

Needless to say, there's no scientific backing for these 5G fears. Areas with high infection rates aren't clustered in areas that have 5G,[50] and people on cruises without 5G have also fallen ill.[49] Germs, not waves, are the problem. Germs don't propagate via radiation. In fact, with certain forms of radiation — intense UVC-spectrum ultraviolet light, a form of the ionizing radiation mentioned above — you actually can destroy all viruses exposed to the radiation and achieve sterility. [note 1] [51]

Setting fire to 5G towers (as apparently has happened in at least 50 cases as of April 21, 2020)[52] isn't going to cure anything. Instead, it might get you arrested for arson and sent to prison where you could breathe the same air as infected inmates.[53] Harassing poor telecom technicians won't help stop COVID-19 either.[54] The celebrities spreading anti-5G nonsense don't know what they're talking about, either.[55]

Eating bats

In January 2020, a viral video showing a young Chinese woman eating a whole bat with chopsticks spread rapidly across social media. In reporting on this video, the Daily Mail (of course) called it "revolting footage" while winking and nudging that "scientists link the deadly coronavirus to the flying mammals".[56] The problem is, the video in question (filmed in 2016, several years before the virus outbreak began) was regarding travel blogger Wang Mengyun eating a bat in Palau, a Pacific Island nation where bat-oriented cuisine is common.[57][58] Unfortunately, Wang received racist hate mail and even death threats.[59] The Daily Mail and their culinarily stunted audience will do well to pay no attention to their own abusive and filthy food industry that requires pumping drugs to treat animals sickened by the industry.

Scientists haven't yet produced sufficient evidence that eating bats caused the bat-to-human jump of coronavirus.[60] There are many ways for zoonotic transmission to occur – transmission is complex with lots of variables. The virus may have an intermediate host between bat and human, but scientists aren't so sure.[60]

Claims that the virus was engineered

The scientific consensus "overwhelmingly conclude(s) that this coronavirus originated in wildlife."[61] Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 shows that it shares about 96% of its RNA with a RaTG13 coronavirus strain found in a bat, and has strange and unusual mutations that are nothing like anything a human scientist could possibly create.[62][63][64][65][66][67] The death rate of SARS-CoV-2 is 2%, and is estimated that an average infected human can infect two and a half humans,[68] this reality runs contrary to the conspiracy as the whole point of a bioweapon is to kill people. Why the hell would the Chinese government want to piss off other governments by infecting their citizens and government officials?[69][70][71] At least with this conspiracy, it is somewhat realistic and would operate within the laws of physics, unlike the other conspiracies.

Of course, when conspiracy theorists are confronted on these contradictions, they say that yes, these government officials are being assassinated in the most attention-grabbing way possible, that would attract the imagination and alarm of the panicking public. One study explicitly refuted the plausibility of laboratory origin due to similarities to recently evolved zoological versions of coronavirus.[72]

But that hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists from claiming that it was created in a lab as a weapon or experiment gone wrong.

Blaming Chinese scientists

Early indications during the pandemic showed that the first cluster of the viruses may have originated from a "wet market" in Wuhan.[73] In a pre-print paper that was quickly withdrawn after appearing on ResearchGate, Chinese scientists Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao proposed that the virus might have actually come from one of two research laboratories near the wet market: the Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.[74] Always keen to spread bullshit on anything health related, this was picked up by the Daily Mail with an appropriate panicky headline.[75] Even the Daily Mirror, the yin to the Daily Mail's yang, couldn't help JAQing off on the subject as well.[76] On the American side, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) repeated this bullshit on Fox News and subsequently accused the Chinese government of lying about COVID-19.[77]

Zero Hedge went even further. Claiming that the virus was spreading because it was a "weaponized version of the coronavirus" originally from Canada, Zero Hedge sought to seek out who was responsible for this coronavirus. So they cobbled some criteria for narrowing down who "created" the virus from a job posting on the Wuhan Institution of Virology's website. Using these rather random criteria, they zeroed in on one Chinese scientist in particular who was focused on bat virus infections and immunity and claimed that he created SARS-CoV-2. At that point, they decided to doxx the scientist, because of course, they would.[78] This was enough to get them permanently suspended from Twitter.[79]

Why did Zero Hedge think the virus came from Canada? Because of another rumor: in July 2019, virologist Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, her husband, and some of her students from China were removed from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg over a "policy breach". Not only did social media rumors link COVID-19 to these individuals, but baseless claims were made that Dr. Qiu and her husband were part of a "spy team" that had sent "pathogens to the Wuhan facility", and that her husband "specialised in coronavirus research".[80]

Memes spread online on how the Wuhan Institute of Virology's logo is similar to that of "Umbrella Corporation", a shady agency responsible for making the virus that starts the zombie apocalypse in the Resident Evil video game series. But the logo that inspired the meme belongs to a different company altogether (namely Shanghai Ruilan Bao Hu San Biotech Limited, located in Shanghai, 500 miles away from Wuhan).[81]

On February 24, 2020, Rush Limbaugh repeated the bullshit that COVID-19 was a weaponized "ChiCom[note 2] laboratory experiment" on his radio program. Unusually for a crank, he actually downplayed the virus risks, actually reporting the correct approximate survival rate right of 98% (the mortality rate of COVID-19 as of February 24, 2020 is around 2.3%).[82]. However, he mistakenly said that this was "a far lower death statistic than any form of influenza" (typically the mortality rate of influenza in the United States is 0.1%). [83] More to his style, he declared that "the coronavirus is the common cold" for some reason, and politicized COVID-19 media coverage by complaining that the "Drive-By Media" was "weaponizing" COVID-19 "as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump". [84] [note 3]

Limbaugh's bullshit was repeated by Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, both accusing the media and the Democratic party of "weaponizing fear".[86] This is fairly ironic coming from a cable news network notorious for exploiting fear.[87]

Fox News, in fact, has been spreading so much bullshit from its relatively prominent position in media downplaying the virus to the point where network insiders privately worry about that should a strong connection be made between Fox News disinformation and deaths, they could be sued and held liable.[88][note 4]

Blaming Bill Gates

That's supposed to be Bill Gates, but Ben Garrison is a bit too used to drawing Soros. Also, the unironic 666 is hilarious.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a charity that is dedicated to global philanthropy, using Bill Gates' massive wealth earned during his days as CEO of Microsoft. Much of this philanthropy is dedicated to concerns about world health. As such, the foundation has plenty of experience with past epidemics and pandemics, ranging from long-lasting historical pandemics such as HIV/AIDS to epidemics caused by novel viruses such as the Ebola virus outbreak in Africa. Based on their experience fighting these diseases, the foundation has been warning about the risk of a pandemic disease for years — correctly predicting for instance in a 2015 TED talk (after the Ebola outbreak) that the world would not be ready should a large-scale pandemic occur. [90]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is actively leading efforts to fight COVID-19, and spending $100 million$250 million$300 million in funding to do this.[91][92][93] Unfortunately, it became a major target of the conspiracy crowd over the months that the disease progressed. Gates' strong links with world health programs, as well as his vocal opposition to Trump's policies (such as Trump's relative sluggish response to the virus and cutting funding for the World Health Organization in the middle of the pandemic) have triggered the conspiracy crowd to actually accuse Bill Gates of actually creating the virus that fueled COVID-19. In the past, Gates, due to remarks about vaccines reducing child mortality and therefore naturally reducing the number of children that couples wish to have, has been a target of those who embrace depopulation conspiracy theories, particularly among those who embrace the anti-vaccination movement.[94] Conspiracy theorists have naturally combined the two into the notion that Bill Gates created the virus to cull or survey the global population. [95]

An example of the strange thought process involved here came early during the outbreak from, as one would expect, the depths of QAnon. Prominent QAnon YouTuber Jordan Sather mistakenly thought a patent for an avian IBV vaccine,[96] created by farm animal infectious disease research institution Pirbright Institute, was actually a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine. Because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded some of the other research of this institute, Sather connected the two, leading to the rumor that Gates created the virus, a theory which soon spread like wildfire across conspiracy blogs.[97]

Naturally, the conspiracy morphed further to the point where Bill Gates completely owned the "patent on coronavirus". In a Natural News article, the chicken coronavirus vaccine patent oddly proved to them that COVID-19 was "just another weaponized viral strain designed to sell more useless, deadly vaccines, while at the same time killing off a few thousand, or perhaps a few million, people." (Of course, this is just another article from Natural News designed to happily sell the paranoid more useless dietary supplements).[98]

Another example came due to Gates' participation in a high-level pandemic exercise called Event 201, which was sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in October 2019.[99] Players in the exercise were presented with a scenario where a fictional coronavirus (i.e., not SARS-CoV-2) started in pig farms in Brazil and then spread around the world, leading to a (fictional) 65 million deaths.

Naturally, this morphed into sites like Infowars putting up alarmist headlines like "BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION & OTHERS PREDICTED UP TO 65 MILLION DEATHS VIA CORONAVIRUS — IN SIMULATION RAN 3 MONTHS AGO!". This of course means, according to Infowars, that Gates is one of the "globalists who own the patent to the virus and predicted its rise". These "globalists", per Infowars, are intentionally spreading the disease "so groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can step in and become saviors". Of course, Infowars is "wise to the activities of the Gates' and the global elite's depopulation agenda!" (Like Natural News, their article is also designed to happily sell the paranoid additional useless dietary supplements; it is uncertain how wise Infowars readers are to this purpose.)[100][101]

Since then, Bill Gates-oriented conspiracy theories appear on Infowars frequently.[102] Infowars' unhinged conspiratorial rants include comparing the (untrue) aforementioned population control theory to Nazi eugenics[103] and describing an (untrue) initiative from Gates to "vaccinate and microchip every human being on Earth in the name of combating the coronavirus pandemic". (Of course, Infowars is happy to remind you in the midst of this doom and gloom that they are now accepting pre-orders for their healthy and delicious storable food!) [104]

As a result of all of this disinformation, in a Yahoo News / YouGov survey conducted between May 20 and 21, 2020, 44 percent of Republicans believe that Bill Gates is plotting to use a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign to implement microchips in billions of people and monitor their movements. Only 26 percent of Republicans were able to identify this story as false. [105] There is concern that this widespread belief in conspiracy theory over science will make any vaccination effort difficult in the United States, and thus hamper abilities to combat the pandemic once a vaccine is available.

The impact of the disinformation is not just limited to the United States. On May 14, Sara Cunial, a politician of the Five Star Movement who had been suspended from the party for likening vaccines to "free genocide", in both an online speech made in the Italian Parliament (much to other members' chagrin) and a Facebook post,[106] called for Gates to be arrested by the International Criminal Court for "crimes against humanity", and claimed that "the real goal of all of (the search for a COVID-19 vaccine) is total control... absolute domination of human beings, transformed into guinea pigs and slaves, violating sovereignty and free will." [note 5] A small protest over Gates happened in Melbourne, Australia in early May. Anti-Gates signs appeared in England, and Gates was the focus of anti-lockdown protests in Germany that occurred in mid-May. [110][111]

Conservapedia's take

As a curious subtext of its germ theory denialism, Conservapedia has blamed a combination of not following Kosher (Mosaic) dietary laws, and rampant atheism (because of course) and Communism in China:[112]

The Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is an example of a deadly disease arising in animals deemed to be "unclean" by the Mosaic Law for human consumption, such as bats, snakes, cats and camels. In addition, developing countries in which basic needs — including hygiene — are poor, income is scarce, or are run by corrupt and/or atheistic cultures and governments there is often a history of poverty and famine; their societies in turn would develop a culture reflecting a wider variety of foods eaten (see: Atheism and economics). Where people consume such animals in poorly regulated food markets with poor health systems (see: Atheist hospitals in China and Atheism and medicine and Atheist hospitals) — especially if the food item is improperly prepared and cooked - a coronavirus can take hold in the human population and then spread rapidly to other people.

The article on Conservapedia was written mainly by Conservapedia:RobSmith.[113] The section on Mosaic law and atheophobia was apparently approved by Andrew Schlafly.[114]

In a nutshell

Depending on whichever conspiracy you want to believe in, here are all the ridiculous theories compiled...

• Coronavirus is an American biological weapon
• Coronavirus is a Chinese chemical weapon
• Coronavirus is caused by 5G towers
• Coronavirus is caused by Bill Gates to put a microchip in you
• Coronavirus is caused by Bill Gates to sell you vaccines
• Coronavirus isn’t real
• Coronavirus is just another flu
• Coronavirus is trying to keep the masses obeying the government
• Coronavirus is being made to kill off the elderly
• Coronavirus is made to kill the poor
• Coronavirus is manufactured to make the rich richer and the poor poorer
• Doctors have been silenced to show that Coronavirus is fake
• There is a new world order
• It's a plandemic

Conspiracy theories, paranoia and the blame game

See the main articles on this topic: Conspiracy theories and Paranoia

When a new pandemic arises, it's easy for people to collectively start searching for anyone, anything to blame. Sometimes the blame game extends into batshit insane conspiracy theory territory.

In the world of social media, disinformation about the virus proliferated as fast as the virus itself. The disinformation from the usual sources got so bad that stupid stuff like obvious shitpost-style "jokes" about Eminem being the first celebrity with COVID-19 (parodying Eminem lyrics in the process),[115] satirical warnings not to pop bubble wrap,[116] and "realistic" conspiracy-oriented horror fiction about COVID-19 cover-ups posted on Reddit[117] got misrepresented as factual. YouTube, despite ostensibly removing posts with medical misinformation, has seen COVID-19 conspiracy-oriented media flourish and thrive. [118].

Perhaps the most notable piece of COVID-19 misinformation in social media was a video called Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind COVID-19. Produced by Mikki Willis and his production company Elevate (a company whose general aim is to produce "socially conscious media"[119] but has promoted conspiracy-oriented material in the past)[120], the film focuses on former researcher Judy Mikovits. Very similar to the story of the bullshit that happened with autism and vaccines, Mikovits attempted to link a newly discovered retrovirus to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, only to have the paper fully retracted when nobody could replicate the results. Like Andrew Wakefield (who tried and failed to link autism and vaccines), instead of accepting the results and moving on, after some legal shenanigans (such as getting arrested for stealing research from a lab she was terminated from) she hopped on board the profitable conspiracy crank circuit by feeding those susceptible to anti-vaccination bullshit exactly what they want to hear. (It's no surprise that Plandemic doubles as a promotion for a book Mikovits is publishing soon.)[121][122] Fortunately, the film is literally full of bullshit point after bullshit point, making it easy for publications to thoroughly debunk every claim it attempts to make. (Major debunkings include articles at NPR[123] and The Atlantic[124] among many others.)

Of course, Vladimir Putin's government played a significant role in spreading misinformation (as if the Russians weren't satisfied with simply interfering with politics). In the United States, officials said thousands of Russian-backed social media accounts were coordinating a misinformation campaign to spread coronavirus conspiracy theories. Of course, the Russian government responded to these reports as "fake."[125] This behavior is unsurprising, as Russian bots were previously identified as spreading vaccine hysteria in the United States and coordinating a misinformation campaign in the 1980s that American scientists were responsible for creating the AIDS virus.[126][127]

The disinformation was not limited to just social media. For instance, early in February, the World Population Project at the University of Southampton published research predicting where people from Wuhan had traveled to in the two weeks prior to Wuhan being locked down under quarantine. The researchers on this project posted a series of messages about their work on Twitter. One of these messages included a side point, with a map illustrating global air travel traffic (basically, all the flight paths in the world, nothing more) just to show the extent of the global air network. Somehow, tabloids such as the Sun took the global air traffic map to be an actual "HORRIFYING" map showing "the unstoppable spread of the deadly coronavirus across the globe".[128]

Ben Garrison weighs in. Can you count the conspiracy theories?

Misinformation about the state of China

• In February 2020, a viral video supposedly showing a chaotic scene in Wuhan circulated, where posters claimed that people were "shooting down all the people with the virus in China". This in fact was a mixture of several mislabeled videos, such as a video where firework explosions were being heard in the background, and a scene from a fatal motorcycle accident.[129]
• In late February 2020, Mark Richards (as reported by his admirer Kerry Cassidy) said that 30,000 Chinese had already died, and 40,000 had been "taken off-world by Reptilians assisting China in their drive to eliminate approx. 500 million people."[130] He added that "other governments are using it to facilitate eliminating some of their populations as well." Richards is a convicted murderer serving life without parole in a California prison and has very limited access to sources.
• Hal Turner, of course, also contributed to the misinformation by maintaining a webpage with "news" on the "Coronavirus in China" [131]. The page headline ups the ante on the pandemic numbers that cranks are pulling out of their asses, reporting for instance on February 13, 2020 that "2.8 Million (are) Infected" and "112,000 (are) DEAD" from COVID-19 (far exceeding official statistics, which were 60,416 cases and 1,370 deaths at that time.)[132] Other bullshit statements include claims that the dead are "being taken directly to incinerators" to be burned, that the virus is different than SARS because it "causes rapid kidney failure", and an absolute certain prediction that the pandemic will cause Chinese society to collapse and "set in motion a global economic shockwave from which the planet will be unable to recover for decades." For believers of this nonsense, Hal is happy to direct you to vendors for surgical masks and MREs.
• Steve Bannon's front group, the Rule of Law Foundation, shared a bogus study claiming that COVID-19 was created in a lab, which was immediately busted by actual biologists. [133]

Snake oil

See the main article on this topic: Snake oil

“”I believe in getting immunity the old-fashioned way: By letting a bat virus take control of my lungs and turn my face into a disgusting plague fountain while my immune system desperately Googles 'how to make spike protein antibodies'.

—xkcd[134]

When a new disease sprouts up, scammers are bound to show up and offer you bullshit that will "protect" you from COVID-19, and, in fact, every disease known to man.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver has long had a history of being promoted for curing every disease known to man (in spite of the fact that the only proven effect of ingesting silver is argyria, e.g. you may look like a Smurf).[135] Not surprisingly, many people started hawking colloidal silver as a bullshit cure for COVID-19 shortly after the pandemic began, in spite of it being a completely ineffective treatment.[136]

Disgraced evangelical preacher Jim Bakker, for instance, has been pushing "Optivida Silver Solution", a colloidal silver formulation,[137] for some time as the cure for every disease known.[138] In February 2020, he started pushing his silver solution as something that "totally eliminated, deactivated" "the coronavirus".[139] In March 2020, Bakker was sued by the state of Missouri for peddling fake Coronavirus cures on his television show.[140] The New York Attorney General followed suit, ordering Bakker to stop peddling this bullshit,[141] and the United States Food and Drug Administration followed up with warnings to Bakker for selling unapproved cures.[142]

Shortly after Bakker got his warning to cease and desist making unproven claims about colloidal silver, Alex Jones' Infowars site also received cease-and-desist letters, as they were also selling colloidal silver products.[143][144]

Chlorine Dioxide Bleach

In recent years, chloride dioxide bleach Miracle Mineral Supplement has emerged (largely thanks to the efforts of Jim Humble) as yet another substance that cures everything known to man. Naturally, some people decided that these quack "cures" extend to COVID-19. (It is true that if you die from bleach poisoning, there will be absolutely nothing to worry about regarding being infected from SARS-CoV-2.)

The first major promotion of MMS came from the depths of QAnon. After Jordan Sather blamed Bill Gates for COVID-19, Sather then said that he was going to "MMS the whole shit out of everything". This led to MMS being touted as a "cure" for COVID-19, with this quackery spreading among those receptive to the conspiracy theory that Gates created SARS-CoV-2. Other prominent supporters of the QAnon movement also tweeted their support. [145]

Sadly, Bolivia's Senate fully embraced this quackery in July 2020, officially endorsing this as a "treatment" for COVID-19, despite medical warnings from Bolivia's own health ministry. [146] Bolivia's lower house of parliament followed this up by approving the "solution" in August 2020. [147] The majority leader of the national Senate threatened to leave the World Health Organization if the WHO continued to warn people that drinking bleach is a really, really bad idea. [148] Meanwhile, in nearby Ecuador, ten Catholic bishops became so pissed off at the country's health minister, Juan Carlos Zevallos, for actually being reasonable and insisting that drinking bleach is a really, really bad idea, that they sent a public letter to President Lenin Moreno demanding his resignation. [149][150]

Pitching supplements with paranoia

Hucksters who scam money from the paranoid by frightening people into purchasing their supplements and survivalism products naturally jumped into action when the COVID-19 pandemic arose.

Natural News, never one to miss the opportunity to direct the paranoid and conspiratorial towards the arms of the profitable supplements businesses that support them, actually launched a separate site called "Pandemic News"[151] dedicated to spreading bullshit about the virus. Their home page has been changed to add a counter with the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with one line for the (according to them) "rigged" official infected and death counts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and another for the (according to them) "realistic" infected and death counts of the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring numbers that they pulled out of their ass.[152] Among their bullshit suggestions are articles that COVID-19 can be treated by "intravenous vitamin C"[153] and "all-natural oxygen therapy".[154]

Infowars, who also are never one to miss the opportunity to direct the paranoid and conspiratorial towards the arms of their profitable supplements businesses, have also stepped up their marketing efforts to aggressively hawk their expensive bulk freeze-dried food packages, while simultaneously spreading wild conspiracy theories about COVID-19... even evoking cannibalism in their sales pitches that evoke total society collapse. [155]

Scams that exploited the paranoid, of course, proliferated as well. One example was a site that was selling a "Pandemic Survival" book. The book naturally mixed conspiracy theories and paranoia with a promotion of a supplement called "BioDefend" (or "BioImmune", depending on whether you looked at the text or the product photograph). This supplement reportedly was "chocked full of Vitamin C and other essential herbs and vitamins" and would "support your body to help fight off harmful germs and viruses".[156] While the PDF file is actually available for free, the people behind "Pandemic Survival" set up several spam emails and malvertising campaigns that all point to scam websites (in many cases, faked to look like mainstream news sources). On these sites, you could pay $37 for the privilege of downloading this free conspiracy theory PDF. [157]

Herbal and traditional medicine

During the pandemic, several countries turned to herbal and traditional medicine to try to cure COVID-19... in spite of there not being any evidence that the products do any good. Some of these medicines have even earned official endorsements from government agencies.

In China, fans of traditional Chinese medicine snapped up a formula called "shuanghuanglian" (invented, as traditionally as you'd expect, in the 1960s) to combat the virus. Made of honeysuckle, Chinese skullcap, and forsythia, the formula sold out rapidly across the country, despite the fact that (in keeping with how most traditional Chinese medicine doesn't really work well) there is no evidence that this formula does a thing for COVID-19.[158] (A drug called Kaletra (a.k.a., lopinavir/ritonavir, used to treat HIV/AIDS) was also highly in demand, despite the fact that there is no evidence that this will help treat COVID-19 either.[159]

India went even further and actually issued a government notice[160] detailing approved ayurvedic and homeopathic methods for "prevention of coronavirus infections". There is no evidence that any of this will do anything for COVID-19 beyond placebo.[161]

Madagascar president Andry Rajoelina, meanwhile, has promoted an herbal tea based on sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) as a cure for COVID-19; there is no evidence that this plant does anything for that.[162]. That hasn't stopped other national leaders, such as Tanzania president John Magufuli, from touting this snake oil, though. [163]

In Iran, some prominent clerics promote bullshit quack "cures", like cotton wool drenched in violet oil and inserted into your anus, or the "Prophet's Perfume" — which in a social media video, one cleric (Morteza Kohansal) went around dabbing on various COVID-19 patients, without protective gear, in a hospital he was not authorized to be in. None of this cures COVID-19 either; in fact, some top clerics who have relied on herbal remedies have succumbed to the disease, and one patient in Kohansal's "Prophet's Perfume" video also has died from the disease. [164][165]

Cannabis and CBD

Various companies and people have been promoting cannabis and CBD for COVID cures or symptoms. The claims are sketchy at best and if based on anything at all, would be based on very weak evidence of in vitro tests of individual cannabis chemicals. Among the many examples:

• "Finest Herbalist", a company that manufactures a CBD product called "Pure Herbal Total Defense Immunity Blend" was ordered by New York Attorney General Letitia James on April 2 to cease marketing its products as effective for COVID-19.[166]
• Peter Jonathan Hanna, a member of a Unification Church schism ("World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church") and a QAnon promoter/survivalist,[167] has promoted cannabis as a cure for COVID.[168] Hanna also claims that his family has the coronavirus.[169][170]
• Kyle Turley, ex-football player and cannabis company owner, has claimed that "cannabis will prevent and cure" COVID-19.[171][170]

Miscellaneous

• Online, other miscellaneous bullshit prevention methods spread across social media, such as one purported to be sent by "NWLLAB" telling you to "keep your throat moist", "avoid fried or spicy food", and "load up on vitamin C".[172]
• Chiropractors pretend that if you pay them lots of money that they can manipulate your spine and give you supplements to both prevent and cure you of COVID 19.[173]
• In New Zealand, the Destiny Church, a fundamentalist religious cult built around the personality of its leader, self-styled Bishop Brian Tamaki has made a number of irresponsible statements and claims. At a Sunday service he claimed, "Satan has control of atmospheres unless you are born-again Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, Holy Ghost-filled, tithe-paying believer".[174] He has also claimed that he can ignore the New Zealand government's ban on gatherings of more than 500 people and remain open because prayer will protect his congregation, so long as they pay their tithes, of course.

Chloroquine

"Doctor" Trump[175] himself recommended taking experimental drugs (hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin)[176] because:

“”I feel good about it. That's all it is. Just a feeling. You know, I'm a smart guy. I feel good about it … You're going to see soon enough. … We have nothing to lose. You know the expression: What the hell do you have to lose?

—Donald Trump[177][178][179]

Trump's own chosen expert on COVID, Dr. Anthony Fauci, strongly disagreed with Trump that these drugs should be used by the general public.[177] When asked by a reporter, Fauci said:

“”The information that you're referring to specifically is anecdotal. It was not done in a controlled clinical trial, so you really can't make any definitive statement about it.

—Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases[177]

Importantly, taking pharmaceuticals for off-label uses, as Trump recommended, can be lethal. In the case of hydroxychloroquine, the toxic dose is as low as 20 mg/kg body weight, and the lethal dose as low as 30 mg/kg.[180] Also hydroxychloroquine suppresses the immune system,[181] so it could actually make COVID infection worse. "What do you have to lose?", said Trump.[182]

The question should really be, 'What does Trump have to gain?' This is because Trump as well as several of Trump's associates, including Wilbur Ross and Ken Fisher, are directly or indirectly invested in companies that manufacture hydroxychloroquine.[183] In the big scheme of Trump's finances, his own personal investment in hydroxychloroquine manufacture is puny,[184] but would it surprise you if a billionaire helped out a crony or that a billionaire would try to chisel a nickel from the pavement of a busy street sidewalk?

There is an association — although causation has not been established — between both hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine[185] and azithromycin[186][187] with adverse cardiac events. This is an additional reason not to self-medicate with these drugs.

Only a day after Trump's dangerously stupid recommendation, two cases of chloroquine poisonings from self-medication were reported in Nigeria; health workers in Nigeria (and elsewhere) have had to warn Nigerians against self-medication.[188] On March 23, 2020, it was announced that a US man has died and that his wife is in critical condition after both ingested "chloroquine phosphate,[note 6] an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks."[189]

Chloroquine, one of the first synthetic anti-malarial drugs, is not as effective at malaria prevention and treatment as it used to be due to parasite resistance. It is however effective in the treatment of a few diseases, including lupus, amebiasis and rheumatic disease.[190] Due to Trump's crank promotion of chloroquine, US stocks of chloroquine has been nearly exhausted in less than a week, likely causing severe medical consequences for patients who relied on chloroquine.[191] It is a drug which is falling out of use for any treatment, as hydroxychloroquine is generally much better tolerated and more effective. HCQ is generally well-tolerated enough that it can be taken daily for the treatment of diseases such as RA and lupus, and is widely prescribed for such.

Quack Doctor Mehmet Oz announced on Fox News that he was testing the drug combination, and was immediately repudiated on Fox by US Surgeon General Jerome Adams (a Trump appointee).[192]

The researcher behind this shitshow is Didier Raoult (1952–), who besides publishing a really lousy paper on hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (non-randomized, no true control group, bad ethical practice, confounding factors, missing patients from the analysis, dubious peer review) in the publication International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (IJAA), has also been caught falsifying data in the past.[193][194][195][196][197] Raoult has cast doubt on randomized trials generally, as well as on the value of scientific consensus.[194][197] Incidentally, Raoult has also broadened his 'research' by denying climate change[198] and Darwinian evolution (and its Modern Synthesis).[194][199]

Two of the co-authors on the IJAA article are Raoult and Jean Marc Rolain.[195] Rolain is the editor-in-chief of IJAA[200] and Rolain is a subordinate of Raoult at the Institut hospitalo-universitaire. Due to the editor-in-chief being a co-editor, the peer review process was passed on to an unnamed associate editor,[201] which did adhere to peer review rules, though the 1-day turnaround time is still suspicious.[193][194] On April 3, the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, which publishes IJAA, took the unusual step of issuing a non-retraction notice regarding the paper:[201][202]

“”ISAC shares the concerns regarding the above article published recently in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (IJAA). The ISAC Board believes the article does not meet the Society’s expected standard, especially relating to the lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria and the triage of patients to ensure patient safety.

That said, there is in vitro (in a petri dish, essentially) evidence that chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine is effective at inhibiting SARS-CoV-2,[203] and there are several plausible mechanisms of action that have been discovered. It's believed that HCQ could potentially alter the PH of cells, thereby preventing SARS-CoV-2 from binding, and it could also allow more zinc into the cell, which would change the composition of the cell to an extent it becomes lethal to any entering SARS-CoV-2 viruses. This was the primary rationale for using it along with azithromycin. The anti-inflammatory and immunomodulation effects are another possibility, as this virus generally kills by cytokine storm, in other words, an overactive immune system. In vivo testing has, however, been mostly negative, but the rationale for testing did exist. Raoult, however, despite having a perfect opportunity to do so, did not carry out anything resembling a real test, then declared victory, saying he had cured COVID-19.

Under what was likely intense pressure from the White House, the FDA issued an approval letter for emergency use of chloroquine phosphate and hydroxychloroquine sulfate (but not azithromycin) on March 28, 2020.[204] Notably, the FDA letter "did not cite specific studies or evidence the FDA used to support the decision."[204][205]

On the very same day that Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, started touting hydroxychloroquine,[206] Sweden terminated a medical trial for the drug due to severe side effects (seizures and vision impairment).[207][208]

Trump's fixation on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine has reportedly diverted already scarce expertise into what will likely be a wild goose chase.[209] Trump's fixation was apparently initiated after a phone call with major campaign donor and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.[209]

In April 2020, a (pre-peer reviewed) randomized clinical trial of 368 COVID patients was divided into three groups hydroxychloroquine (HC), HC+azithromycin (HC+AZ) and control group of no HC or AZ.[210] The study found no evidence that HC with or without AZ reduced the risk of need for mechanical ventilation, and the study further found that HC alone increased the risk of death.[210] However, many other tests are still ongoing in various stages all around the world.

On May 19, 2020, Trump surprisingly revealed that due to recent potential exposure to the virus in the White House, Trump was taking hydroxychloroquine (along with a zinc supplement) in an attempt to ward off the virus (in spite of the above noted health concerns.) [211][212]. Even a Fox News host (Neil Cavuto) was stunned by this decision, warning Fox News viewers that there is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine can ward off Covid-19, and "if you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment … it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you."[213]

To few people's surprise, hydroxychloroquine did not prevent people from becoming infected with COVID-19.[214][215]

Disinfectants and ultraviolet

See the main article on this topic: Ultraviolet

“”Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that, too. Sounds interesting. I see disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it'd be interesting to check that. So you're going to have to use medical doctors, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we'll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that's pretty powerful.

—Trump[216] — Would you run away from this man if you heard this on the street?

Meanwhile, on April 23, 2020, during a presentation, after learning that surface cleaners such as sodium hypochlorite bleach or isopropyl alcohol might be effective at killing the virus, Trump shared more of the depths of his medical expertise by wondering whether COVID-19 could be killed by injecting these surface disinfectants into the body (most surface disinfectants, including these two, are highly toxic to ingest), or whether you could kill the virus by shining "tremendous" amounts of ultraviolet "light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way." [217][218] Medical doctors reacted by calling Trump's statements as "irresponsible", "extremely dangerous", and "frightening". Major manufacturers of disinfectants, such as Reckitt Benckiser (manufacturers of Lysol and Dettol)[219] and Zoflora[220] rushed to put out press releases and social media posts, reminding everyone that following this advice from Trump would be a really, really bad idea.

Fringe fans of another type of bleach, Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS, a.k.a. chlorine dioxide bleach), rejoiced, feeling that the president has provided all the evidence they need that ingesting bleach will cure everything. (As chlorine dioxide bleach also is toxic to ingest, following the advice of the MMS quacks is a really, really bad idea as well.)[221] Trump got the dangerously stupid idea of promoting bleach after receiving a letter from Mark Grenon, the leader of the largest group promoting MMS (a "church"/manufacturer called Genesis II); the letter told Trump that MMS is "a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body".[222] (This same group had been ordered by the FDA to stop selling the "unproven and potentially harmful treatment for Covid-19" just a few days earlier.)[223]

Oleandrin

In August 2020, a few prominent Republicans (such as Housing and Urban Development Secretary and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Ben Carson, and Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, a company that has engaged in illegal business practices,[224] and in 2020 was known for providing heavy advertising support for far-right Fox News hosts, such as Tucker Carlson[225] and Laura Ingraham,[226] that have become too toxic for mainstream companies to advertise on) started pitching oleandrin, a toxic chemical found in the oleander plant (Nerium oleander), to Trump as a cure for COVID-19. (Of course, the pitch has an element of self-interest, as Lindell has a stake in a company developing oleandrin extracts called Phoenix Biotechnology.)[227] Oleandrin is a cardiac glycoside, with similar properties and structure to digoxin, which is derived from Foxglove.

There is no solid evidence that oleandrin works to treat COVID-19 in humans.[227] Although there is a preliminary, preprint (non-peer reviewed) study that oleandrin may display some in vitro inhibition of SARS-CoV-2,[228] it is a giant leap to go from saying, preliminarily, that a compound may inhibit a virus in isolation, to saying that not only does this compound cure COVID-19, but it is also safe to use on humans. In addition, two authors of the study are employed by Phoenix Biotechnology, suggesting a potential conflict of interest.[229] In the meantime, because oleander is a common ornamental plant that is also well known to be highly toxic,[230] some in the medical field worry that there is a non-trivial chance that people will get the really, really bad idea to "self-medicate" with the plant.[231] The American Botanical Council (an alternative medicine organization that promotes herbal medicine) actually rushed out a press release urging consumers "not to ingest any parts of the plant, or capsules, tablets, teas, or extract preparations made from leaves or other parts of the oleander plant because it contains chemicals that can cause serious effects to the human heart, including death."[232]

Facial masks, an assault on mah freedom!

"I don' wanna wear mask" by Jon McNaughton.

See the main article on this topic: Face masks

Initially, the advice from health officials on whether or not to wear a mask was confusing and contradictory, due to the thought that mask priority should be reserved for medical professionals, and confusion on how effective masks were at containing COVID-19 transmission.[233] But by May 2020, the evidence was compelling that masks actually were very effective — even simple masks made from cloth reduced the possibility of COVID-19 transmission by a significant amount. As a result, the scientific consensus by the middle of 2020 was firmly in agreement: it is advisable to wear a mask as much as possible (particularly in crowds and indoor locations), in order to offer a little protection against getting COVID-19 (and even more protection against asymptomatic cases unknowingly infecting other people). [234] In America, this resulted in some states and towns passing laws to make mask-wearing mandatory, at least in indoor locations.

Unfortunately, conspiracy theories about masks popped up almost immediately online. In the video Plandemic mentioned above, for instance, Judy Mikovits claimed that masks "literally activates your own virus", a claim so puzzling to scientists that one wonders exactly what Mikovits actually learned while obtaining her biochemistry degree.[235] Donald Trump made a point of not wearing a mask in public [236] and only grudgingly occasionally started to wear masks in July 2020 [237]. Polls showed that the more conservative media one watched, the more one refused to embrace social distancing and mask-wearing. [238] Many conservative news sources such as Fox News seemed more interested in mocking mask laws and using masks as a conservative "talking point" that related to generic "freedom" oriented musings and attacks on Democrat politicians. [239] In the worst-case scenarios, this has led to many mask-less freedom fighters idiots getting into shouting matches, and even physical fights, with grocery store clerks, servers, and other service employees who merely asked for facial masks to be worn indoors in their store location. This has resulted in a large number of viral videos documenting the facial mask meltdowns. [240]

In June of 2020, a group calling itself the "Freedom To Breathe Agency", a private, non-governmental organization, ran both a website and a Facebook page, encouraging people to print out their own "Face Mask Exemption Card", threatening steep financial penalties for forcing the card's bearer to wear a face mask. The card listed a claim that the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) did not require the bearer to disclose their condition.[241] The Department of Justice issued a warning that the cards were not issued by any Government agency.[242] As of June 29, 2020, both the website and the Facebook page have vanished.

Racism, bigotry and trolling

See the main articles on this topic: Racism and trolling

“”It is a foreign virus, if the chinese held high hygiene standards we wouldn't be in this mess right now.

—FoxxysTweets, local racist on Twitter responding to a post from the wingnut Townhall.com. Nearly 80 likes, a few retweets.[243]

The pandemic has brought out ugly divisions between whites and minority races (which are more disproportionately affected) while also stroking xenophobic hatred and relentless exploitation of immigrants, all while being constantly goaded by right-wing leaders and media pundits.

The coronavirus outbreak indirectly victimized Asians by bringing out the worst in racists. Particularly, it harkens back to an old racist sentiment that the Chinese are filthy and eat whatever animal they like.[244] Many Asians (regardless of whether they are Chinese or not, this includes Taiwanese people) have reported experiencing increased profiling and social isolation over concerns that they might have COVID-19 (complete with racist terms and tropes directed against them in some cases). Rumors about Shen Yun being a vector for coronavirus have been circulating despite the dance company being located in New York, being banned from performing in China, and the members not having visited China in years.[245] Business has slumped at many Asian-oriented establishments in the West.[246] These verbal attacks have occasionally crossed over into assault and harassment.[247] It's most apparent when racists don't get the nationality correct and just assume every East Asian-looking they see is a new Chinese immigrant and not someone that's been more likely living there long before the outbreak.

A few businesses across the globe are prohibiting "all people coming from China" from entering their establishment due to excessive COVID-19 fears.[248] Stroking anti-immigrant bigotry while politicizing the COVID-19 in the United States, Donald Trump, in a campaign rally on February 28, 2020, called COVID-19 the Democrats' "new hoax", ironically accusing the Democrats of doing the very same thing he is doing — politicizing the virus. He then linked the virus to the "many other public health threats" of "the Democrat policy of open borders".[249] Fear of infectious disease is widely seen as being a strong motivating factor behind racism [250], so it is not surprising that Trump is using the virus, characterizing it as a "foreign" virus,[251] (hint for xenophobes: political boundaries don't define a virus) to "rally his base" behind his racist, xenophobic[252] "immigration policy".

A laughable/sad instance of plumb-ignorant racism involves a fake shitpost circulated in Australia, from the "Department of Diseasology Parramatta", warned fellow racists, in poor grammar, about contaminated "Asian" products including Lipton's peach ice tea[253] (Lipton is a British company). It has gotten so bad that NSW Health responded.

For some reason, a story about a Cameroonian man living in China who contracted, and was successfully treated for COVID-19[254] generated bullshit racialist posts online that he actually fought off the virus "because he has black skin, (because) the antibodies of a black person are 3 times strong, powerful, and resistant as that of a white".^[sic] There is no scientific evidence to support this claim.[255]

Fundie conspiracy theorist and radio broadcaster Rick Wiles has blamed Jews for spreading the COVID-19 virus because they are not Christians. ("God is spreading it in your synagogues! You are under judgment because you oppose his son, Jesus Christ.)[256]

Many ecofascists have made statements stating that humanity is the "disease" and that COVID-19 is nature's "cure" or "revenge,"[257] either ignoring that the disease is disproportionately fatal for poor, non-white people, often ones living in third world countries or acknowledging it but not giving a fuck because they either lack empathy for such people or, in extreme cases, actively want them to die because they blame them for overpopulation.

In the Republic of Korea, a 29-year-old man living in Yongin tested positive for COVID-19. He went clubbing in Itaewon, a party district in Seoul, when he had no symptoms, exposing at least 1,500 people to the virus. For some Korean media, his being gay was the most problematic aspect of this story. This has led to homophobic public opinion and hate speech against LGBT people within the Korean Internet community. [258]

Denying immigrants basic human rights

“”For my children and I, who are US citizens, who should be afforded the same rights as every other citizen, it's really upsetting. We're being punished because of something completely separate, which is the immigration status of my husband. It wasn't thought out completely, surely. We are being betrayed by our own government."

—Miriam, part of a family of five that won't receive aid because her husband used an individual taxpayer identification number.[259]

It's particularly striking that immigrants, especially the working class immigrants, are left off to fend for themselves while other groups receive relief packages. It mirrors the disasters centuries ago in the U.S. when it was believed that the Irish carried cholera while Jewish were responsible for tuberculosis. The exclusion is most notable in the United States, taken in reigns by an incompetent and bigoted president, where long-entrenched beliefs of "bootstraps" and dispensable "undeserving poor" dominate right-wing political discourse. Trump has excluded the stimulus checks to immigrants without social security numbers and filed only joint tax returns, including people who are married to them, barring 1.2 millions Americans from receiving aid.[260] Americans that use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to pay taxes, that means, are not getting anything despite working and paying taxes. Oh, but those serving the military are exempt. We wonder why...

A change to the public charge law in 2018 has made it more difficult for immigrants to receive a green card if they seek aid or are in conditions that make them likely to seek aid (including Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children despite not being included in the list of targeted benefits), thus potentially contributing to a chilling effect where 1 in 7 immigrants have not pursued aid in fear of jeopardizing their immigration status, thus leaving them more at risk of getting incapacitated by the coronavirus.[261]

It's better to just let people die rather than lose money… or the election

“”Now, … an unofficial study which we undertook of this eventuality, indicated that we would destroy ninety percent of their nuclear capabilities. We would therefore prevail, and suffer only modest and acceptable civilian casualties from their remaining force which would be badly damaged and uncoordinated.

—General Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove,[262] foreshadowing the 'pro-life' GOP political calculus[263]

“”As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all Americans love for your children and grandchildren?

—Lieutenant governor of Texas Dan Patrick, actually displaying the pro-life GOP political calculus that the economy is more important than Grandma and Grandpa.[264]

United States of America

A common theme among Republicans seems to be that the economy running normally is far more important than lots of people dying. This most often goes unsaid, but comes up in the form of denialism of the seriousness of the pandemic[265] or in the form of many Republican governors' refusal to follow health experts advice on mandating social distancing.[266]

The economic reality however is that without the availability of an effective vaccine, the cost of not implementing social distancing measures is extremely costly to the US economy: $5.2 trillion.[267] This estimate is from an analysis by University of Wyoming researchers (Linda Thunstrom et al.) that used standard statistical cost of a life lost estimates, a type of metric that is commonly used in governmental risk-benefit analyses and in courtroom damage assessments.[267][268] A separate analysis from University of Chicago economists Michael Greenstone and Vishan Nigam concluded:[269]

“”Whether in regular times or during a pandemic, it is difficult to think of any intervention with such large potential benefits to American citizens. Importantly, while we measure benefits of distancing in dollars, they reflect the high value Americans place on small reductions in their chance of death – including consumption, leisure, time with family, and other aspects of life not easily monetized.

It is noteworthy that while the CDC has used economic cost-benefit analyses in the past, the CDC is not using such analyses for COVID-19.[267] The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is also not doing any cost-benefit analyses, and The White House Council of Economic Advisers declined to comment on whether they had reviewed the analysis by Thunstrom et al., which they had been sent.[267]

Response of wingnuts

In the case of conspiracy theorist/Trump-fanboy Bill Mitchell,[270] he was caught tweeting:[271]

“”We lost 6,000,000 people during the Holocaust. Did we shut down our economy then? Of course not. This is pure insanity.

—Bill Mitchell

America, like most nations in response to COVID-19, has been using non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and quarantines to try and prevent the spread of this disease. In the middle of April 2020, several protests against this lockdown erupted in many states in America. These relatively small protests (at most a couple thousand people) attracted the more extremist, paranoid elements in American conservatism (as evidenced by the frequent appearance of Confederate flags, semi-automatic weapons, and Trump cult of personality paraphernalia at these rallies).[272][273] The racial makeup of these protests are majority white, even in more racially diverse states such as California.[274] Of course, most Americans, including a plurality of conservatives, think these protesters are nuts. [275]

The rallies, while ostensibly a grassroots protest, were revealed to actually be astroturf on close examination, with ties to such industrialist figures such as Betsy DeVos and the Koch family, as well as shit-stirrers seeking nothing more than to profit over the paranoid (to no one's surprise, a show hosted at Infowars was behind a protest in Texas, and Alex Jones was in attendance.) [276][277][278]. The rallies have also received support and behind-the-scenes coordination from The Convention of States project, which has been funded by Republican megadonor Robert Mercer's family foundation, and two members of Trump's White House, Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development.[279]

Trump, of course, has enthusiastically retweeted support for these protests; [280] in contrast, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director Anthony Fauci warned that the anti-quarantine protesters could actually prolong the shutdown. [281] (In spite of calls to "fire Fauci" at the protest rallies, as of April 19, 2020, far more Americans trust Fauci for information on COVID-19 compared to Trump.[282]) In late June 2020, Trump ignored rising case numbers and held two large-scale presidential rallies. Two weeks after Trump held a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, 2020, Tulsa had a spike in new detected coronavirus cases; a top health official believed that the rally "more than likely contributed" to the spike. [283]

Fox News host Pete Hegseth on May 7, 2020, to no one's surprise, advised people on a panel program called Outnumbered to ignore "some of our experts and some of our leaders" and, laying out the line that the economy was more important than one's health, encouraged "healthy people" to leave their homes and get infected with COVID-19 in order to strive for "herd immunity". (Experts generally are wary about the "herd immunity" concept with this virus.)[284] Apparently no lessons were learned from Fox and Friends co-host Jedediah Bila, who contracted the virus on April 9. [285] Several studies suggest the possibility that watching conservative populist American media during this pandemic may have been hazardous to your health: preliminary data suggests that those who watched conservative media like Fox News were less likely to social distance and were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories or quack cures. [286]

Some business CEOs have also taken the stance that keeping the business open is more important than the health of the people. One of the more prominent CEO bullshit artists and attention whores during the pandemic is Elon Musk. In between given his new baby boy an unpronounceable name that Prince would have been proud of [287] and dissing Warren Buffett on Joe Rogan's podcast[288], Musk used his Twitter account to broadcast his fury over what he feels is a "dumb" coronavirus "panic". During the first several months of the pandemic, he promised (but failed to deliver) to manufacture ventilators for hospitals, he promoted the chloroquine quackery on his Twitter feed, and he called stay-at-home orders "forcible imprisoning" and "fascist" during an expletive-filled first quarter earnings call. [289][290] On May 11, 2020, Musk defied a county lockdown order and reopened their California manufacturing facility. [291]

Fringe personalities, generally from the wingnut side, have also moaned about the virus being nothing more than a conspiracy to destroy the economy. For instance, ex-sheriff David Clarke thinks that attempts to stop the spread of coronavirus by restricting large gatherings are "an orchestrated attempt to destroy capitalism."[292]

It's better to just let students and teachers die rather than lose money

After pumping up Trump's dubious COVID cure, Dr. Oz suggested to Hannity that reopening schools would be a good idea and that a certain level of mortality among schoolchildren would be acceptable:

“”"Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but … that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider."

—Mehmet Oz[293]

I.e., never mind the Hippocratic Oath ("First, do no harm."), we need the money. Oz tried to walk back his quote within 24 hours, but the harm was already done.[294]

In the summer of 2020, as America debated whether or not to re-open schools in the fall of that year, many Republican politicians echoed Oz's general sentiment, preferring charge-ahead bluster in their push to re-open schools, without much thought for safety. Predictably and understandably, teachers as a whole were not happy with this development. Most would have been happy re-opening schools if the viral caseload for the area was low enough, and proper sanitation guidelines for re-opening schools (issued by the CDC) were followed. [295] However, many Republican leaders were insisting on a full scale re-opening [296] in spite of, at that time, many Republican led states and towns also being COVID-19 hotspots.[297] One teachers' union; (in Florida) sued to block re-opening; [298] many other teachers are quitting or retiring early in response. [299][300] Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, showed her compassion to teachers by making an empty threat [note 7] to defund schools that don't open [301]. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy was even more compassionate when he advocated on Hannity's Fox News show that those who oppose schools' reopenings "can kiss my ass". [302]

“”"The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open... the science should not stand in the way of this."

—White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany[303]

Predictably, many schools after they reopened became the site of a COVID-19 outbreak; the outbreaks have often caused many students to be quarantined, and in some cases resulted in the school shutting down almost immediately after re-opening.[304][305][306] In one case, in North Paulding High School in Dallas Georgia, a student posted a photo of the school hallways shortly after re-opening. The photos showed a very crowded hallway, with many students not wearing masks. The school's response was to suspend the student for having the audacity to share the photo on social media. [307] (Facing a backlash, the suspension was removed a few days later.)[308] The next week, 9 cases (later rising to 35) of COVID-19 were confirmed among North Paulding High School teachers and students. This forced the school to close for a full week for cleaning and adapt an alternate hybrid in-person/virtual learning strategy after that. [309] In another case, a school district cancelled plans to reopen schools after teachers staged a "sick out" in protest. [310] Universities were not spared either — COVID-19 outbreaks, often linked to sororities, fraternities and off-campus parties, forced a few universities to move to online-only classes.[311]

The lethal COVID injection

America's way of mass incarceration and crowding of prisons (making social distancing impossible), with people of color and people with mental health disabilities disproportionately affected thanks to racism and being flared by overt racism being enabled by Trump, made it the perfect storm for COVID-19 for the prison population and the staff. People in prison are by far the most vulnerable group to COVID, worsened by the public's general indifference as well as the failure of leadership, mostly Republican but also by the indifference of Democratic leadership. People in jail are around five times as likely to contract the disease,[312] and more prisoners have died to COVID than all executed since 2001.[313] More than 900 people had died from COVID in state and federal prisons[314] and the Marshall Project estimates that over 300,000 people have been tested positive for COVID-19.[53] Every state barring Vermont has reported at least one death from a prison. More than 100,000 prison staff have tested positive.[53]

In one illustrative example of Democratic indifference toward the treatment of the incarcerated people, Cassandra Greer-Lee had to call the Democratic sheriff, the Cook County jail, the jail's hospital Cermak, 132 times[315] describing the horrible jail conditions and pleading for assistance for husband, Nickolas Lee, who was presumed innocent but was still locked up and was showing signs of developing COVID-19. She even went into the jail herself to try to get the attention of corrections officers. No action was taken until her husband was taken into a hospital and eventually succumbed to COVID-19. The only semblance of a response to this was the office bringing up Nick's past record for being convicted for armed robbery,[316] hardly an excuse for the lack of a response. The Cook County jail is one of the country's largest jails and has reported one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the country.[317]

Trump body count

One analysis estimated that as of October 2020 (based on 222,000 total deaths) tens of thousands of excess US deaths could be attributed to Trump's bungling and denialism.[318] An earlier but more rigorous analysis estimated (based on the July 21, 2020 death total of 140,630) that between 4,244 and 12,202 excess deaths could be attributed specifically to Trump's pronouncements regarding mask-wearing (not his policies per se).[319] Another October 2020 study (based on 217,000 total deaths) estimated that there were between 130,000 and 210,000 excess deaths by comparing the US to similar countries' responses, a large portion of which would be attributable to Trump due to the Trump administration's "hostility to much of the critical guidance and recommendations put forth by its own health agencies".[320] One estimate of worst-case total US deaths from COVID was 620,029.[320] Given that initial disease response (lockdowns and mask-wearing) is critical in reducing total deaths,[320] a large proportion of the total US deaths would be attributable to Trump regardless of whether the deaths occur after he is out of office.

Brazil

Similarly, President Jair Bolsonaro seems to be wagering that keeping the Brazilian economy running will be the only way to get reelected at this point as long as the body count doesn't rise too high.[321] His strong resistance to quarantine measures and his repeated COVID-19 denialism (a stance that runs contrary to almost every other leader in the world — he repeatedly has downplayed COVID-19 as "a bit of sniffles" or a "little flu") has led to defiance from most of Brazil's governors (who have largely implemented a quarantine in their states anyways), nightly protests in many Brazilian cities, and a declining approval rating. [322][323] Bolsonaro's frequent clashes with Brazilian health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta (who advocated social isolation, and has a 76 percent approval rating as a result, compared to Bolsonaro's 28 percent approval rating) eventually led, naturally, to Mandetta being fired by Bolsonaro on April 16, 2020. [324]

The health care minister appointed to replace Mandetta, Nelson Teich, resigned on May 15, 2020 — officially for no reason, but Teich was known for frequently clashing with Bolsonaro. It was speculated that Bolsonaro's embrace of the chloroquine quackery pushed by Donald Trump, and his desire on May 14, 2020 to change the protocol around chloroquine to allow for expanded use (despite there being no solid evidence that this drug works well against COVID-19) was the final straw for Teich. [325][326] Teich was replaced by a temporary appointment, Eduardo Pazuello, an army general with no previous medical experience. [327][328]

Bolsonaro has gone above and beyond Trump in protesting lockdown measures by actually appearing at anti-lockdown rallies. Journalists noted that he neither wore a face mask (even though he was seen coughing on several occasions) nor gloves, precautions which other world leaders have taken. [329]

“”"So what? I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

—Jair Bolsonaro, when asked about Brazil's record 474 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday April 28, 2020. Apparently responding by taking COVID-19 seriously for once is out of the question...[330]

Bolsonaro's callous and dismissive response to the virus (including the above quote, which trended on social media) has infuriated many Brazilians, as well as many other government officials (including Bolsonaro's popular justice minister, Sergio Moro, who resigned from Bolsonaro's administration on April 24, 2020, in part because Bolsonaro was being an anti-scientific dipshit on COVID-19.)[331]

One son of Bolsonaro, a popular video game streamer named Jair Renan Bolsonaro, actually got temporarily banned from Twitch on May 2020 due to him saying bullshit during a Twitch session that COVID-19 was "just a little flu" and a "media invention to lock you inside your home, so you'll think the world is crumbling". [332]

By June 2020, as the COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to increase (in terms of raw numbers, only the United States had more confirmed cases at that time, and unlike the United States, the case rate was still trending upward)[333][334], it was clear to most Brazillians that COVID-19 was far from just a "little flu", and Bolsonaro was widely blamed for his poor response to the pandemic. [335] Bolsonaro responded to this sentiment by wiping months of historical data from Brazil's official online COVID-19 tracker, and only allowing limited information to be shown, in a clear bid to try to reshape the narrative.[336] This move caused three opposition parties to file a legal challenge; a Supreme Court judge later sided with the opposition parties, overruling Bolsonaro, and ordered the data to be restored. [337]

After spending the rest of June continuing to downplay the virus and scuttling preventative measures, such as vetoing elements of a mandatory mask law passed by the lower house, [338] on July 7, 2020, Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19. [339]

It's better to just let people die rather than stop gathering to worship the Lord

By its very nature, a religious service (multiple people gathering indoors in close quarters, often involving singing or other forms of vocal expression) offers conditions which are ripe for COVID-19 to spread rapidly. As such, COVID-19 has exacerbated the rift between faiths that respect the laboratory, and faiths that openly defy science. While a large proportion of religious institutions have complied with lock-downs and quarantines, some — particularly fundamentalist or evangelical sects that have naturally been hostile to scientific thought — have engaged in open defiance against these orders.

Inevitably, some of these religious gatherings have ended up as the source of a major viral outbreak.[342][343] It is noteworthy, however, that since the stay-at-home orders in the United States, churchgoing has become the exception rather than the rule, even on Easter.[344]

Some world leaders have preferred to rely on religious tropes instead of taking necessary quarantine action. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a leader strongly aligned with the Brazilian evangelical community, who as noted above has defiantly resisted calls for a lockdown, decided that a national day of fasting and prayer was the best course of action for combating the virus.[345] Tanzanian president John Magufuli defended his decision to keep places of worship open by stating that "corona is the devil and it cannot survive in the body of Jesus."[346]

(As proof that Magufuli's proclamation isn't quite the case, and the very nature of a church gathering actually makes it more risky than many other scenarios, major viral outbreaks tied to religious gatherings include 2,500 cases tied to a gathering of the large Christian Open Door Church in France in mid-February 2020[347], a church gathering in Arkansas that caused at least 34 direct cases of COVID-19 and multiple additional cases when COVID-19 infections spilled over into the surrounding community,[348][349]a church service in Frankfurt that resulted in more than 100 COVID-19 infections,[350] and a choir practice in Washington state where 47 of the 60 people who attended were infected by COVID-19.[351])

South Korea

A prominent example of a major COVID outbreak tied to a defiant religious group is the secretive sect Shincheonji in South Korea, which continued to host worship sessions after several of its members caught the virus and failed to inform health authorities of the outbreak by submitting falsified lists of its members. So far, over 60% of reported cases in South Korea are linked with Shincheonji, and Korean authorities are currently seeking murder and wrongful death charges against the sect.[352]

Israel

In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox sect known as Haredim make up 12% of Israel's population — but they account for as much as 60% of Israel's COVID-19 cases.[353] While Israel is generally viewed as reacting swiftly to the virus, the ultra-Orthodox community initially resisted social distancing measures, especially regarding the closure of synagogues and religious schools.[354] This has resulted in increased tension between the Haredim community (who have a special status in Israeli law that allows them to avoid the otherwise mandatory military draft, among other privileges) and the rest of the Israeli public.[355] A prominent member of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, health minister Yaakov Litzman (who is ultra-Orthodox), tested positive for COVID-19 on April 2, 2020.[356] Some reports suggest that Litzman flouted social distancing rules by taking part in illicit group prayers, an accusation he denies.[357]

Tanzania

As noted above, Tanzania president John Magufuli engaged in tepid preventative measures with COVID-19 compared to other African nations, keeping all places of worship open, and preferring to fight the virus by engaging in unhelpful measures such as declaring days of national prayer [358] and promoting a herbal tonic placebo as a cure.[359] Of course, any journalist that tries to do any real reporting on COVID-19 is cracked down upon. [360] Other African countries engaged in lockdowns and social distancing, and saw declining cases as a result.[361] Unsurprisingly in contrast, by May 2020, Tanzania had the highest number of cases in the region, [362] and this is even before the large possibility that cases are being under-tested and under-reported due to the opaque nature of the Tanzania government. (Even the cause of death of three MPs in 11 days in April 2020 was kept hidden from the public, causing rumors to fly speculating that all 3 died of COVID-19.)[363]

United States

In America, one of the more prominent examples of a religious leader defying lockdown orders is Rodney Howard-Browne of The River At Tampa Bay Church in Tampa, Florida (a preacher who is heavily aligned with the conspiracy theory crowd, to the point wherein 2018 he appeared on Infowars and gave Alex Jones the gift of a handgun to show that Jones was "protected by God")[364]. Howard-Browne earned national attention by getting arrested for repeatedly refusing to comply with lockdown orders.[365] Howard-Browne, who believed in the bullshit that COVID-19 was a bioweapon created by Bill and Melinda Gates to complete a socialist takeover of the US government and kill off people with vaccines[366], closed the church after this arrest — not because of the virus, but because he wanted to protect the church from "a tyrannical government".[367]

Louisiana has another prominent example of a religious leader defying lockdown orders, Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge. Spell has compared lockdown orders to "tyranny", believes the pandemic is "politically motivated", and continues to intend to violate the law (drawing six misdemeanor citations in the process).[368] In a TMZ interview, Spell claimed that "true Christians do not mind dying, they fear living in fear", judged that "people that can prefer tyranny over freedom do not deserve freedom", claimed that the "only vent that (people) have for their emotions is coming to the house of God and worshiping, like free people." and brushed off any deaths that might result from his foolish defiance with the notion that they "died like free people".[369] Of course, worshiping remotely was out of the question. As of April 16, 2020, one member of his church has reportedly died from COVID-19, although Spell denied that this was the cause of death (never mind what the coroner report said).[370] Later, on April 20th 2020, Spell was issued an arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — as earlier he showed his Christian spirit by rapidly backing up a church bus into the direction of a person protesting in front of his church, stopping just short of hitting him. [371]

Another prominent example in America is Liberty University — at a time when most college campuses locked down due to the virus, Jerry Falwell Jr. chose to keep the campuses open, believing that the COVID-19 quarantines were an "over-reaction" driven by a desire to harm Donald Trump. Unsurprisingly, Liberty University has been the source for many new infections of COVID-19, with at least a dozen students and several employees falling ill from the virus. Falwell Jr.'s reaction to this has been to criticize the reporting of his stupidity, ironically comparing the media to Nazis and suing two reporters for "trespassing". (A Liberty University student countered by suing Liberty University and Falwell Jr. for "placing students at severe physical risk".)[372][373][374]

In one case, a preacher, Gerald Glenn, "firmly believe(d) that God is larger than this dreaded virus". Under this delusion, he defied lockdown orders on March 22 2020, holding a service and vowed to preach "unless I'm in jail or the hospital". He ended up catching the virus, and passed away on April 11, 2020.[375][376]

Ukraine

In Ukraine, an Orthodox church (Kyiv Pechersk Lavra) also initially defied quarantine orders, with monastery head Metropolitan Pavel stating that "the most terrible epidemic is the sin that destroys human nature" and encouraging everyone to "hurry to church". This church has emerged as a hotspot for the viral infection in Ukraine, with 140 monks reportedly testing positive for the virus.[377]

Information suppression

China

China's government uses many authoritarian tactics — strict secrecy, media censorship, and the like — to promote "stability" and slavish adherence to central authority. When the disease first started showing up as early as December 8, 2019,[378] the Wuhan government ordered all government agencies to act like everything was "normal". On December 30, eight doctors in Wuhan, including Li Wenliang, expressed concern about the spreading sickness but they were reprimanded by the local government for 'spreading rumors'.[378][379] President Xi Jinping said on January 7, 2020 that he was aware of the virus, but from January 12-17 the annual Communist Party meetings were held, and a huge potluck supper for 40,000 families was held on January 18, during which time the Wuhan city health department issued a statement that no new cases were detected.[379] On January 14, Ma Xiaowei, the head of China's National Health Commission, reported in a confidential session that the situation was "severe and complex" and that "the risk of transmission and spread is high. All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic."[379] In response to this, however, the National Health Commission however issued a 63-page document of pandemic response procedures that were labeled "internal" and "not to be publicly disclosed".[379] The confidentiality of the document enabled Li Qun, head of China’s disease control emergency center, to contradict the report on state television by saying "the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission is low".[379] President Xi did not warn the public until January 20,[379] 53 days after the virus disease was first detected in Wuhan.

This delayed public discovery about the virus for 40 days, probably causing the pandemic to be much worse than if China had a free press.[378][380] One doctor, Li Wenliang, who attempted to raise the alarm about the new coronavirus, was actually punished for "spreading false rumours".[note 8] Wenliang died from the coronavirus on February 7^th, 2020, causing widespread outrage on Chinese social media, actually threatening to overwhelm Chinese social media censors for a time.[381][382]

Since then, China has been proud to show images in official media coverage that they are fighting the virus. (However, some of the images that they show are not what they claim to be)[383]. Of course, they remain dedicated to censoring any *unofficial* viewpoints in social media. China is happy to flood social media with the "official viewpoint" that the outbreak is under control and we all shall be returning to work soon, citizens! [384] In reality, China's clumsy, slow reaction to COVID-19 (a reaction which was aggravated by the increasingly authoritarian government of Xi Jinping, and the consequential "authoritarian blindness" that tends to result in these systems due to being advised solely by "yes men")[385] has severely weakened the Chinese government credibility among many Chinese, in spite of the heavy propaganda machine. [386] Chinese media has attempted to cover up what happened by portraying President Xi as a "hero who vanquished the virus", and that China's system (of authoritarian control) should be emulated.[379]

United States

The Trump Administration ignored the National Security Council playbook on fighting pandemics that the Bush and Obama Administrations left behind after leaving office.[387][388][389] The Trump Administration and its enablers also denied that such a playbook existed and blamed the Obama administration for not preparing one.[390]

Trump is evidentially more concerned about how the virus will affect his approval rating than anything else.[391] Seemingly taking a cue from Limbaugh above, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, at a CPAC conference, blamed the media for exaggerating the seriousness of COVID-19 because "they think this will bring down the president, that’s what this is all about." He also bizarrely compared COVID-19 as equal to influenza just as Limbaugh did.[392]

Donald Trump Jr. also added to the pile of conservatives politicizing the virus by accusing Democrats of rooting for the virus to kill "millions of people" solely for political purposes.[393]

The official truth

Trump ordered all government official statements about COVID-19 to be funneled exclusively through a new panel led by Vice President Mike Pence — a man who once proclaimed in 2001 that "smoking doesn't kill", ignoring the scientific consensus (solid since the 1960s [394]) that tobacco smoking is deadly. [note 9][395][396] Letting someone like, say, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director[397] Anthony Fauci speak freely about COVID-19 is absolutely verboten.[398]

Nothing is wrong!

And taking a page from the Chinese government's playbook, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) whistleblower was reassigned from her position after raising concerns about HHS staff being in contact with coronavirus evacuees without proper protective equipment.[399] A few months later, Captain Brett Crozier, commander of the USS Roosevelt, was fired for sounding the alarm on the spread of COVID-19 on his ship.[400]

Tweet of Fortune

In summer 2020, the COVID-19 cases severely increased in the United States, particularly spiking in states such as Florida which pushed for an early opening (in many cases like Florida, without a statewide mask policy or other social distancing measures). Fauci stepped up criticism of America's response to the pandemic, bluntly stating that the national response had gone awry. In response, Trump reacted as he usually does to any criticism by sidelining Fauci, scuttling some of his planned TV appearances, and having White House officials tell the media that they are "concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things". Reportedly, Trump was annoyed by his public statements (presumably for being accurate and frank instead of Trump propaganda), and the "good press" Fauci was receiving for actually having medical sense. On Twitter, Trump preferred to retweet the medical advice of Chuck Woolery, who used medical expertise gained from his Wheel of Fortune hosting days to tweet that "Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors" [401][402][403][404]

Egypt

Egypt's military-dominated government has been widely criticized for a response that has imposed dire economic hardships on ordinary Egyptians without effectively containing the spread, and bullying scientists and the media into accepting the state-approved statistics on infections and deaths. After a team of Canadian scientists published a report estimating that over 19,000 Egyptians had become infected (at a time when the authorities were admitting to only three cases), the Egyptian government retaliated against German journalist Ruth Michaelson, who reported the story, by revoking her press credentials and trying to imprison her (she escaped on one of the last flights out of Egypt after the German embassy tipped her off). The government's opaque behavior, combined with the sudden disruption to daily life, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's unannounced two-week disappearance, and an admission that two senior generals had died of the virus led to an entirely predictable public panic.[405]

Suspicions that the government was misleading the public about the outbreak's severity were confirmed when an anonymous, high-ranking military officer tipped the press off that the state was deliberately manipulating data on disease prevalence. Tricks included withholding tests, falsifying causes of death on victims' autopsy reports, and not reporting cases within the military.[406]

The authoritarianism pandemic

See the main article on this topic: Authoritarianism

Many countries in 2020 that were either fully authoritarian or drifting in this direction, have used COVID-19 as an excuse to tighten the reins. Pandemics naturally cause some restrictive responses and policies that normally would be unthinkable during normal times (such as quarantines to help slow the spread of disease), but authoritarian governments used the virus as an excuse to consolidate power in government, and implement restrictive policies well in excess of what is necessary to control the disease.

In Israel in March 2020, Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency (conveniently closing courts that were due to hear his own corruption trial) and started implementing mass surveillance of citizens via cell phones. Hungary's parliament voted to cancel elections, suspend its own legislative power, and grant Prime Minister Viktor Orban the right to rule by decree indefinitely, as well as enhancing information suppression methods. Leaders of other countries, such as Serbia, Cambodia and Togo have followed suit in making their country effectively one-leader-rule (in some cases, allegedly temporarily, but the fear among human rights groups is that it very possible that these new arrangements will be permanent). The leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, warned that he might have to purge the nation of "enemies". Nations such as Cambodia, Chile, Jordan, Thailand, El Salvador[407], and Russia used COVID-19 to enhance measures to crack down on dissent and suppress inconvenient political protest. Tensions between China and Hong Kong rose after prominent pro-democracy activists were arrested on April 18, 2020, violating the island's Basic Law which protects Hong Kong's freedoms. [408] [409][410][411]

The increasing authoritarianism in the world could be good news... for the virus. In the June 6th 2020 edition of The Economist, the magazine performed an analysis of past epidemics comparing authoritarian governments to democracies (using a definition of a "democracy" where most people can vote in free and fair elections). Using epidemic deaths per capita, they found that the lowest death rates tended to be in places where most people could vote in free and fair elections. Although a thorough analysis in this manner could not be performed on COVID-19 yet due to the virus still being an active pandemic at the time, The Economist noted that an Oxford University working paper was able to use Google's index of mobility to estimate the effectiveness of lockdown measures. Democracies overall had a larger reduction in movement in response to lockdown policies, even after accounting for national wealth and other factors. [412][413]

COVID-19 was also convenient for governments known for harassing minority groups. Uganda used "social distancing" as an excuse to crack down on LGBT people.[414] China enhanced their repression of the Uyghurs. [415] India's Hindu nationalists — including some of those in power aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party — blamed Muslims for the disease, causing increased violence against India's Muslim minority population. [416] Even in the United States, Donald Trump couldn't help playing with one of his favorite boogeymen, immigrants — ordering certain classes of new immigration to be suspended despite there being no scientific reason to do so. [417]

Somehow, the most ridiculous example of this comes from Venezuela (because where else?) where catching the coronavirus is now a crime. [418] Nicolas Maduro (because who else?) has cracked down heavily on anybody who has committed the heinous crime of catching the virus. Returning migrant workers have gotten the brunt of this, being accused by Maduro of being part of a bizarre conspiracy to infect all of Venezuela with COVID-19 to bring down his Government[419] Yes, we wish we were joking too.

See also

• What is going on with the coronavirus?
• COVID-19 denialism

External links

• Coronavirus chart — Live, interactive infection and fatality chart
• COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic — Worldometer
• The COVID Tracking Project
• Myth busters — World Health Organization
• COVID-19 Fact Check
• See the Wikipedia article on COVID-19 pandemic.
• See the Wikipedia article on List of unproven methods against COVID-19.

Notes

1. In case you're thinking about it, UVC light is not something you want to try at home to help clean surfaces and objects of viruses and bacteria, as concentrated UVC light is extremely dangerous to all lifeforms, including humans.
2. short for "Chinese communist"
3. Bizarrely, Limbaugh also ranted about fentanyl, declaring that the Russians had (in his mind) similarly "weaponized" it, citing the 2002 Moscow hostage theater crisis as proof. The general consensus is that much (although not all) of the fentanyl that came into the United States during the 2010s opioid epidemic actually came from China.[85] That being said, his description in the program of what it is actually like to take an opioid is noteworthy given his personal experience.
4. In an analysis of the two dominant primetime Fox News hosts, the University of Chicago was actually able to detect a higher mortality rate among viewers of Sean Hannity, who downplayed the virus until late February 2020, compared to Tucker Carlson, who took the virus more seriously early on.[89]
5. Ironically, the conspiracy theorists who are concerned about vaccines implementing some sort of tracking, might actually be utilizing technologies where tracking data is collected (and there is legitimate concerns over the misuse of this data) to spread this conspiracy theory misinformation. This includes cellular networks as a whole[107] and the massive amount of data collected by large social networks like Facebook and the Google-owned YouTube.[108][109]
6. Chloroquine is a synonym for chloroquine phosphate.
7. In America, school budgets are largely determined by local property taxes; see the Wikipedia article on public school funding in the United States for details
8. Although without an accurate understanding of the pathology of the newly discovered disease, and absent of a robust and independent reporting system, there is little Dr. Li could do as an individual.
9. Ironic considering COVID-19's threat to smokers in particular.

References

1. How to prepare for coronavirus in the U.S. (Spoiler: Not sick? No need to wear a mask.) by Reis Thebault & Alex Horton (Feb. 26, 2020 at 9:58 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
2. "Coronavirus disease named Covid-19", BBC News, 11 February 2020
3. "China pneumonia outbreak: Mystery virus probed in Wuhan", BBC News, 2020 January 3
4. "A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern" by Chen Wang, Peter W. Horby, Frederick G Hayden and George F Gao, Lancet, 2020 January 24
5. COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University
6. Bloomberg
7. CITATION NEEDED
8. "What is coronavirus and what should I do if I have symptoms?" by Sarah Boseley, Hannah Devlin, and Martin Belam, The Guardian, 2020 Feb 21
9. From ‘brain fog’ to heart damage, COVID-19’s lingering problems alarm scientists by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel (Jul. 31, 2020 , 1:30 PM) Science.
10. https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-up-to-80-of-covid-19-patients-have-no-symptoms-health-secretary-says-12004987
11. Coronavirus reinfections: three questions scientists are asking: Second infections raise questions about long-term immunity to COVID-19 and the prospects for a vaccine. by Heidi Ledford (04 September 2020) Nature.
12. https://swprs.org/studies-on-covid-19-lethality/#age
13. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1107913/number-of-coronavirus-deaths-in-sweden-by-age-groups/
14. "Coronavirus emergency: here’s what we know so far", UN.Org, 2020 February 3
15. "China struggles to return to work after coronavirus shutdown" by Ryan McMorrow, Christian Shepherd and Tom Mitchell, Financial Times, 2020 February 10
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43. CITATION NEEDED
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51. "There’s only one type of UV that can reliably inactivate Covid-19 – and it’s extremely dangerous." by Zaria Gorvett, BBC, 2020 March 27
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55. "All the Celebrities who are Worried About The Side Effects of Using 5G and What They've Said About It" by Jorge Solis, Newsweek, 2020 April 13
56. "Revolting footage shows Chinese woman eating a whole bat at a fancy restaurant as scientists link the deadly coronavirus to the flying mammals" by Billie Thomson, Daily Mail 2020 January 23
57. "Don’t Blame Bat Soup for the Wuhan Virus" by James Palmer, Foreign Policy, 2020 January 27
58. "Bat soup in Palau is pretty intense" by Master Blaster, SoraNews24
59. "Chinese influencer Wang Mengyun, aka ‘Bat soup girl’ breaks silence" by Marnie O'Neill, News.com.au, 2020 February 7
60. "'This is not the bat’s fault': A disease expert explains where the coronavirus likely comes from" Vox '
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64. How we know the COVID-19 coronavirus wasn't made in a lab by Bob Hunt, Justin Gmoser, Victoria Barranco (June 12, 2020, 23:34 IST) Business Insider
65. Is the new coronavirus man-made or just a result of evolution? (May 02, 2020 20:34:14 IST) First Post
66. The new coronavirus was not man-made, study shows by Ana Sandoiu (March 20, 2020)
67. Was the New Coronavirus Accidentally Released from a Wuhan Lab? by MICHAEL ABRAMOWICZ (5.6.2020 4:47 PM) reason
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75. "Did coronavirus originate in Chinese government laboratory? Scientists believe killer disease may have begun in research facility 300 yards from Wuhan wet fish market" by Ross Ibbetson, Daily Mail, 2020 February 16
76. "Coronavirus may have actually started in secret Wuhan lab just 280m from wet market" by Tiffany Lo, Daily Mirror, 2020 February 16
77. "GOP Senator Tom Cotton Suggests Coronavirus Could've Come From Wuhan 'Super Lab', Not Seafood Market: China's 'Still Lying Today'" by Christina Zhao, Newsweek, 2020 February 16
78. "Is This The Man Behind The Global Coronavirus Pandemic?" by "Tyler Durden", Zero Hedge, 2020 January 29
79. "Zero Hedge Permanently Suspended From Twitter for ‘Harassment’" by Siraj Datoo, Bloomberg, 2020 January 31
80. "China coronavirus: Misinformation spreads online about origin and scale" by BBC Monitoring, BBC News, 2020 January 30
81. "A Pro-Trump Blog Doxed A Chinese Scientist It Falsely Accused Of Creating The Coronavirus As A Bioweapon" by Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed News, 2020 January 31
82. "Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate" by Stephanie Soucheray, CIDRAP News, 2020 February 24
83. "How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu?" by Rachael Rettner, Livescience.com, 2020 February 19
84. "Overhyped Coronavirus Weaponized Against Trump", RushLimbaugh.com, 24 February 2020, archived on 25 February 25
85. "China Cracks Down on Fentanyl. But Is It Enough to End the U.S. Epidemic?" by Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times, 2019 December 1
86. "How Trump and his Fox News allies are infecting the public trust amid coronavirus concerns" by Oliver Darcy, CNN Business, 2020 February 28
87. "How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory" by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2011 May 25
88. "Fox News Is Preparing to Be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation" by Caleb Ecarma, Vanity Fair, 2020 April 6
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90. "The next outbreak? We're not ready" by Bill Gates, Ted.com, March 2015
91. "The Gates Foundation is spending $100 million to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Bill Gates has warned about a pandemic for years." by Holly Secon, Business Insider, 2020 February 5
92. "Bill Gates hikes coronavirus contribution after bashing Trump for defunding WHO" by Quint Forgey, Politico, 2020 April 16
93. "Bill Gates’s efforts to fight coronavirus, explained" by Kelsey Piper, Vox.com, 2020 May 4
94. "Did Bill Gates ‘Admit’ Vaccinations Are Designed So Governments Can ‘Depopulate’ the World?" by Alex Kasprak, Snopes, 2017 March 10
95. "Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target" by Daisuke Wakabayashi, Davey Alba and Marc Tracy, New York Times, 2020 April 17
96. "US Patent for Coronavirus Patent (Patent # 10,130,701)", Patents.Justia.com, 2015 Jul 23
97. "QAnon Supporters And Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading A Hoax That Bill Gates Created The Coronavirus" by Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed News, 2020 January 23
98. Bill Gates funded the PIRBRIGHT institute, which owns the patent on coronavirus by Ethan Huff (27 January 2020) NaturalNews (archived from 28 Jan 2020 19:23:32 UTC).
99. Event 201 homepage, John Hopkins Center for Health Security
100. "New Coronavirus Wasn’t ‘Predicted’ In Simulation" by Angelo Fichera, FactCheck.org, 2020 January 29
101. "BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION & OTHERS PREDICTED UP TO 65 MILLION DEATHS VIA CORONAVIRUS – IN SIMULATION RAN 3 MONTHS AGO!" by Kelen McBreen, Infowars.com, 2020 January 24
102. "Alex Jones' unhinged conspiracy theories about Bill Gates and the coronavirus" by Timothy Johnson, Media Matters, 2020 April 5
103. "The Nazi Origins of a Bill Gates backed shutdown", Infowars.com, 27 April 2020, archive on 28 Apr 2020
104. "Bill Gates' Plan to Chip the World Explained", Infowars.com, 2020 May 18
105. "New Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows coronavirus conspiracy theories spreading on the right may hamper vaccine efforts" by Andrew Romano, Yahoo News, 2020 May 22
106. Sara Cunial Facebook, post on 2020 May 14, archived on 2020 May 19
107. Electronic Frontier Foundation, cell tracking section
108. "All the Ways Facebook Tracks You—and How to Limit It" by David Nield, Wired, 2020 January 12
109. "All the Ways Google Tracks You—And How to Stop It" by David Nield, Wired, 2019 May 27
110. "Facebook And YouTube Have Allowed Conspiracy Theorists To Turn Bill Gates Into The Pandemic's Villain" by Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed News, 2020 May 22
111. "Is Italy Calling for Bill Gates' Arrest?" by Dan Evon, Snopes, 2020 May 18
112. Coronavirus Conservapedia (archived from March 10, 2020).
113. Revision history of "Coronavirus" Conservapedia (archived from March 10, 2020).
114. Coronavirus "This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Aschlafly (Talk | contribs) at 21:34, 27 February 2020. It may differ significantly from current revision." Conservapedia (archived from March 10, 2020).
115. "Was Eminem Diagnosed with Coronavirus?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.com, February 7 2020
116. "Can Popping Bubble Wrap from China Expose You to Coronavirus?" by David Mikkelson, Snopes.com, 2020 February 12
117. "Did a Chinese Intelligence Officer Reveal the ‘Truth About the Coronavirus Outbreak’?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.Com, 2020 February 20
118. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/07/1001252/youtube-covid-conspiracy-theories/ "How covid-19 conspiracy theorists are exploiting YouTube culture Covid-19 conspiracy theorists are still getting millions of views on YouTube, even as the platform cracks down on health misinformation."] by Abby Ohlheiser, MIT Technology Review, 2020 May 7
119. Mikki Willis,Biography, IMDB, archived on 2020 May 11
120. "PolitiFact: Fact-checking ‘Plandemic,’ a documentary full of false conspiracy theories on the coronavirus", Tampa Bay Times
121. "The anti-vaxx agenda of 'Plandemic'" by Derek Beres, Big Think, 2020 May 06
122. "Who is Judy Mikovits in ‘Plandemic,’ the coronavirus conspiracy video just banned from social media?" by Katie Shepherd, Washington Post, 2020 May 8
123. "Seen 'Plandemic'? We Take A Close Look At The Viral Conspiracy Video's Claims" by Scott Neuman, NPR, 2020 May 8
124. "If Someone Shares the ‘Plandemic’ Video, How Should You Respond?" by Joe Pinsker, theatlantic.com, 2020 May 9
125. Coronavirus: Russia denies spreading US conspiracy on social media. BBC, 23 February 2020.
126. Jessica Glenza, Coronavirus: US says Russia behind disinformation campaign, The Guardian, 22 February 2020.
127. Malaka Gharib, Fake Facts Are Flying About Coronavirus. Now There's A Plan To Debunk Them. NPR, 21 February 2020.
128. "Coronavirus: How a misleading map went global" by Reality Check team, BBC News, 2020 February 19
129. "Does Video Show Guns, Violence in Aftermath of Coronavirus Outbreak in China?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.com, 2020 February 14
130. "Latest news re Coronavirus" Project Camelot, 20 February 2020, archived on 22 February 2020
131. "Coronavirus in China: 23 Million QUARANTINED, 2.8 Million Infected; 112,000 DEAD", Hal Turner News Desk, archived on 2020 February 13
132. Worldometer, COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak, archived on 2020 February 13
133. Steve Bannon Is Behind Bogus Study That China Created COVID by Adam Rawnsley and Lachlan Markay. September 15, 2020
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135. "Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit" by Stephen Barrett, M.D., Quackwatch
136. "Colloidal silver has not been shown effective against new virus from China" by Beatrice Dupuy, AP News, 2020 February 14
137. Silver Liquid - 10ppm Optivida Health (archived from February 22, 2020).
138. "Bakker Still Sells Gel That He Says Cures Venereal Diseases (“All of Them!”)" by Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, 2019 August 17
139. "Disgraced Televangelist Jim Bakker Now Hawking Product That Claims to ‘Kill’ or ‘Deactivate’ Coronavirus, SARS, and HIV" by Reed Richardson, Mediate.com, 2020 February 15
140. Matthew S. Schwartz, Missouri Sues Televangelist Jim Bakker For Selling Fake Coronavirus Cure. NPR, 11 March 2020.
141. NY AG hits Jim Bakker with cease-and-desist order over alleged coronavirus cure. MSN, 9 March 2020.
142. Noah Higgins-Dunn, FDA warns televangelist Jim Bakker and six others to stop selling fraudulent coronavirus products. Archived from the original at cnbc.com, 9 March 2020.
143. Warning Letter: Free Speech Systems LLC d.b.a. Infowars.com MARCS-CMS 605802 (April 09, 2020) U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
144. FDA warns Alex Jones to stop pitching bogus virus remedies by Matthew Perrone (April 10, 2020) AP.
145. QAnon-ers’ Magic Cure for Coronavirus: Just Drink Bleach! by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 28, 2020 12:32PM ET; Published Jan. 28, 2020 4:57AM ET) Daily Beast.
146. "Bolivia's senate approved 'miracle mineral solution' — a toxic bleach with no medical use — as a treatment for COVID-19" by Tom Porter and Ruqayyah Moynihan, Business Insider, 2020 July 16
147. "Bolivia's lawmakers have approved 'Miracle Mineral Solution' — a toxic bleach — as a treatment for COVID-19. Only the president can stop it becoming law" by Tom Porter, Business Insider, 2020 August 15
148. "With Officials’ Backing, Dubious Virus Remedies Surge in Latin America" by María Silvia Trigo, Anatoly Kurmanaev and José María León Cabrera, New York Times, 2020 July 23
149. "Catholic bishops want resignation of health minister, ask for approval of anti-viral treatment", Cuenca High Life, 2020 Jul 14
150. "Obispos solicitan la renuncia del Ministro de Salud", Ecuavisa, 2020 9 Jul
151. "Pandemic News", archived on 2020 February 11
152. Naturalnews.com, archived on 2020 February 18
153. "Clinical trials of intravenous vitamin C treatments for coronavirus commence in China" by Ethan Huff, Naturalnews.com, 2020 February 21, archived on 2020 February 21
154. "South Korea says it’s successfully treating coronavirus patient with natural oxygen therapy" by Ethan Huff, Naturalnews.com, 2020 February 18, archived from the original on 2020 February 18
155. "Alex Jones’ Infowars is attempting to profit from the coronavirus outbreak" by Timothy Johnson, Media Matters, 2020 February 29
156. "Pandemic Survival: How to Survive the Outbreak", PDF, page 74
157. "CNN, People Magazine and CNBC News sites faked to promote phony pandemic survival book" by the Avast Threat Intelligence Team, Avast blog, 2020 April 23
158. "Chinese Media Is Selling Snake Oil to Fight the Wuhan Virus" by James Palmer, ForeignPolicy, 2020 February 3
159. "Desperate for coronavirus solutions, Chinese turn to HIV drugs, gray market and traditional cures" by Roxanne Liu and Gabriel Crossley, Reuters World News, 2020 February 6
160. "Advisory for Corona virus: Homoeopathy for Prevention of Corona virus Infections Unani Medicines useful in symptomatic management of Corona Virus infection", PIB Delhi, 2020 January 29
161. "Indian Authorities Propose Use of Homeopathy to Prevent Coronavirus" by Alakananda Dasgupta, TheScientist, 2020 February 7
162. "Madagascar’s president promotes unproven herbal cure for COVID-19" by Malavika Vyawahare, Mongabay, 2020 April 20
163. "Coronavirus: Tanzanian president promises to import Madagascar's 'cure'", BBC News, 2020 May 4
164. "Desperate Iranians are getting bad medical advice: Perfumes and fruit juice are not a cure for covid-19", Economist, 2020 April 18
165. "Prophet's Perfume & Gourd Oil: Iran Warns Against Quackery, Islamic Medicine To Treat Coronavirus" by Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 2020 March 28
166. AG James Orders CBD Company to Stop Marketing Products as Effective Coronavirus Treatments: Finest Herbalist Falsely Claims Product Successfully Cures/Treats COVID-19 (April 2, 2020) New York State Office of the Attorney General.
167. Peter Jonathan Hanna Twitter (archived from 21 Apr 2020 04:32:22 UTC).
168. I will upload a special long video today on my youtube channel called "Can cannabis kill the coronavirus?" by Peter Jonathan Hanna (6:42 AM - 19 Feb 2020) Twitter (archived from 21 Apr 2020 04:23:22 UTC).
169. Sanctuary Family Vlog Ep 1: MY FAMILY HAS THE CORONAVIRUS! by Peter Jonathan Hanna (4:47 PM · Mar 13, 2020) Twitter (archived from 21 Apr 2020 04:35:23 UTC).
170. COVID, Cannabis, and Quacks: No, Weed Does Not Cure the Virus by Dan Mitchell (April 15, 2020) East Bay Express.
171. CANNABIS WILL PREVENT & CURE COVID19!!!!!!!.....commence the hate by Kyle Turley (4:02 PM - 29 Mar 2020) Twitter (archived from 31 Mar 2020 00:14:45 UTC).
172. "Was This ‘Health Bulletin’ an Accurate Coronavirus Warning?" by Dan Macguill, Snopes.com, 2020 January 31
173. Chiropractors falsely claim they can protect patients from coronavirus by Jann Bellamy, Science Based Medicine, 2020 March 12
174. Coronavirus: Brian Tamaki blames Satanic airborne demons, drinking of bat's blood by John Weekes (16:20, Mar 01 2020) Stuff New Zealand.
175. See the Wikipedia article on Men in Black (1934 film).
176. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully, they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents) … be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE! @US_FDA @SteveFDA @CDCgov @DHSgov by Donald Trump (7:13 AM - 21 Mar 2020) Twitter (archived from 21 Mar 2020 16:28:44 UTC).
177. Trump Vs Fauci: President's Gut Sense Collides With Science: In a clash of gut instinct versus science, President Donald Trump and the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, publicly sparred over whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with coronavirus disease. (March 21, 2020, at 10:35 a.m.) Associated Press via U.S. News & World Report.
178. Trump's eruption at an NBC reporter says it all about his alternate reality on coronavirus by Aaron Blake (March 21, 2020 at 10:32 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
179. Fauci throws cold water on Trump's declaration that malaria drug chloroquine is a 'game changer': Fauci says chloroquine hasn't been studied on coronavirus. by Anne Flaherty & Jordyn Phelps (March 20, 2020, 2:22 PM) ABC News.
180. Case Studies in Toxicology: Somehow… It's Always Lupus by Shannon Rickner & Lewis S. Nelson (2016) Emergency Medicine 48(11):493-495.
181. Treating Lupus with Anti-Malarial Drugs Johns Hopkins Lupus Center.
182. 'What do you have to lose?': Inside Trump’s embrace of a risky drug against coronavirus by Philip Rucker et al. (April 6, 2020 at 4:42 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
183. Trump's aggressive advocacy of malaria drug for treating coronavirus divides medical community by Peter Baker et al. (Published 5:18 am PDT, Tuesday, April 7, 2020) The New York Times via SFGate.
184. Trump’s promotion of hydroxychloroquine is almost certainly about politics, not profits: At least, not his profits by Philip Bump (April 7, 2020 at 8:24 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
185. Cardiac Complications Attributed to Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine: A Systematic Review of the Literature by Clotilde Chatre et al. (2018) Drug Safety 41(10):919-931. doi:10.1007/s40264-018-0689-4.
186. Azithromycin and Risk of Cardiovascular Death: A Meta-Analytic Review of Observational Studies by Aref A. Bin Abdulhak et al. (2005) Am. J. Ther. 22(5):e122-129. doi:10.1097/MJT.0000000000000138.
187. Cardiac Risks Associated With Antibiotics: Azithromycin and Levofloxacin by Zhiqiang Kevin Lu (2015) Expert. Opin. Drug Saf. 14(2):295-303. 10.1517/14740338.2015.989210.
188. Nigeria Has Chloroquine Poisonings After Trump Praised Drug by Alonso Soto (March 21, 2020, 7:51 AM PDT) Bloomberg.
189. Banner Health experts warn against self-medicating to prevent or treat COVID-19 (March 23, 2020) Banner Health.
190. See the Wikipedia article on Chloroquine.
191. As Trump touts an unproven coronavirus treatment, supplies evaporate for patients who need those drugs by Christopher Rowland (March 23, 2020 at 11:02 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
192. Surgeon General Immediately Warns Viewers Against Trying Malaria Drug Treatment For Coronavirus After Dr. Oz Tells Fox Viewers He's Testing It by Benjamin Fearnow (3/23/20 at 10:34 AM EDT) Newsweek.
193. Thoughts on the Gautret et al. paper about Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin treatment of COVID-19 infections by Elizabeth Bik (March 24, 2020) Science Integrity Digest.
194. Chloroquine genius Didier Raoult to save the world from COVID-19 by Leonid Schneider (March 26, 2020) For Better Science.
195. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: Results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial by Philippe Gautret et al. (2020) medRχiv preprint. doi:10.1101/2020.03.16.20037135.
196. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial by Philippe Gautret et al. (2020) International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949.
197. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial by Philippe Gautret et al. (2020) PubPeer. Note public comments.
198. Les prédictions climatiques sont absurdes! Le professeur Didier Raoult déteste les prévisions sur le climat! Un site a même recensé 72 prédictions erronées émises depuis 121 ans. by Didier Raoult (2013) Le Point.
199. Dépasser Darwin by Didier Raoult (2010) Plon. ISBN 2259211143.
200. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents: Official journal of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (archived from March 23, 2020).
201. Statement on IJAA paper Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial (Gautret P et al. PMID 32205204) (April 3^rd-2020) International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (archived from April 6, 2020).
202. Hydroxychloroquine-COVID-19 study did not meet publishing society's "expected standard" by Adam Marcus (April 6, 2020) Retraction Watch.
203. Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro by Jia Liu et al. (2020) Cell Discovery 6, Article number: 16.
204. Re: Request for Emergency Use Authorization For Use of Chloroquine Phosphate or Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate Supplied From the Strategic National Stockpile for Treatment of 2019 Coronavirus Disease by Denise M. Hinton (March 28, 2020) U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
205. FDA authorizes widespread use of unproven drugs to treat coronavirus, saying possible benefit outweighs risk: Millions of doses of the anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine will be distributed to hospitals across the country to try to slow the disease in seriously ill patients. by Christopher Rowland (March 30, 2020 at 1:14 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
206. Giuliani, a familiar voice in Trump’s ear, promotes experimental coronavirus treatments by Rosalind S. Helderman et al. (April 5, 2020 at 1:01 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
207. Carl, 40, fick kramp och syn- problem av "coronamedicin" (4 apr 2020 kl 21.03) Expressen.
208. Sweden stops treatment trial of #COVID19 with Chloroquine after some patients got severe side-effects such as seizure and vision impairment. by Saleem Javed (12:42 PM - 4 Apr 2020) Twitter (archived from April 4, 2020).
209. Trump's push for risky malaria drugs disrupts coronavirus response: All this buzz is confusing the American public," said one senior Health and Human Services official involved in drug policy. by Sara Owermohle & Dan Diamond (03/27/2020 06:18 PM EDT) Politico.
210. Outcomes of hydroxychloroquine usage in United States veterans hospitalized with Covid-19 by Joseph Magagnoli et al. (April 21, 2020) medRxiv doi:10.1101/2020.04.16.20065920.
211. "Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine though health experts question its effectiveness" by By Nikki Carvajal and Kevin Liptak, CNN, 2020 May 19
212. "Trump's physician explains hydroxychloroquine decision" by Rebecca Falconer and Ursula Perano, Axios, 2020 May 19
213. "Alarm and Confusion at Fox News as Trump Says He Takes Hydroxychloroquine" by Robert Mackey, The Intercept, 2020 May 19
214. Hydroxychloroquine, a drug promoted by Trump, failed to prevent healthy people from getting covid-19 in trial: The University of Minnesota enrolled health-care workers and others exposed to the disease in the first randomized prevention study of the drug by Laurie McGinley & Ariana Eunjung Cha (June 3, 2020 at 12:05 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
215. A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19 by David R. Boulware et al. (June 3, 2020) The New England Journal of Medicine doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2016638.
216. Trump suggested studying injections of disinfectant to treat coronavirus, then said he was being sarcastic. Here's video and a transcript. by Deb Reichmann et al. (Apr 24, 2020 | 8:34 PM) AP via Chicago Tribune.
217. "Trump asked if disinfectants could be injected to kill the coronavirus inside the body. Doctors answered: ‘People will die.’" by Allyson Chiu and Katie Shepherd, Washington Post, 2020 April 24
218. "Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment", BBC, 2020 April 24
219. "Lysol maker issues warning against injections of disinfectant after Trump comments" by Marina Pitofsky, The Hill, 2020 April 24
220. "While it’s nice to be trending on Twitter, we would like to remind you all that Zoflora is NOT for human consumption in any way, despite what certain world leaders may be suggesting", Twitter, @LoveZoflora, 2020 April 24
221. "A fringe movement that claims bleach is a miracle cure is jubilant after Trump floated injecting disinfectant as a treatment for COVID-19" by Tom Porter, Business Insider, 2020 April 24
222. Revealed: leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus 'cure' wrote to Trump this week: Mark Grenon wrote to Trump saying chlorine dioxide 'can rid the body of Covid-19' days before the president promoted disinfectant as treatment by Ed Pilkington (24 Apr 2020 14.00 EDT) The Guardian.
223. "US orders group to stop selling bleach 'miracle cure' for coronavirus" by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, 2020 April 21
224. See the Wikipedia article on My Pillow.
225. "Tucker Carlson’s biggest advertiser, the MyPillow guy, doesn’t think Carlson needed to apologize for writer’s hate speech" by Jeremy Barr, Washington Post, 2020 July 14
226. "My Pillow Chief Stands Behind Laura Ingraham and Other Fox News Ads: ‘I Don’t Boycott Any Station’" by Jon Levine, The Wrap, 2019 February 28
227. "4 facts about oleandrin, an unproven coronavirus treatment reportedly pitched to Trump" by Nicole Lyn Pesce, Marketwatch, 2020 August 18
228. Plante KS, Plante JA, Fernandez D, Mirchandani D, Bopp N, Aguilar PV, Sastry KJ, Newman RA, Weaver SC. Prophylactic and Therapeutic Inhibition of In Vitro SARS-CoV-2 Replication by Oleandrin. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 Jul 15:2020.07.15.203489. doi: 10.1101/2020.07.15.203489. PMID: 32699848; PMCID: PMC7373128.]
229. "Trump 'enthusiastic' over unproven coronavirus therapeutic, MyPillow creator says" by Betsy Klein, CNN, 2020 August 17
230. Largo, Michael. The Big, Bad Book of Botany: The World's Most Fascinating Flora William Morrow Paperbacks, August 5, 2014. Excerpted at Slate.com
231. "Oleandrin is a deadly plant poison, not a COVID-19 cure" by Cassandra Quave, The Conversation, 2020 August 18
232. "American Botanical Council Warns Consumers about High Toxicity of Oleander" by the American Botanical Council, press release (archived on GlobeNewsWire), 2020 August 18
233. "Mixed messages on masks from leaders during pandemic has caused confusion for many" by Olivia Rubin,Soo Rin Kim, and Katherine Faulders, ABC News, 2020 May 6
234. "Still Confused About Masks? Here’s the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus" by Nina Bai, University of California San Francisco, 2020 June 26
235. "Debunking the most dangerous claims of 'Plandemic'" by Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience, 2020 May 13
236. "Why do so many Americans refuse to wear face masks? Politics is part of it — but only part" by Elisabeth Buchwald, Marketwatch, 2020 June 28
237. "The mask decision that will haunt Trump's reelection bid" by Kevin Liptak, Pamela Brown, and Sarah Westwood, CNN, 2020 July 7
238. "Is the Media Creating Division on COVID-19 Health Practices?" by Robert Bird and Zacc Ritter. Gallup, 2020 June 23
239. "How Fox News helped turn masks into another culture war flashpoint" by Matt Gertz, 2020 July 1
240. "Fighting Over Masks in Public Is the New American Pastime" by Jonah Engel Bromwich, New York Times, 2020 June 30
241. https://boingboing.net/2020/06/25/the-freedom-to-breathe-agenc.html
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244. "The coronavirus reawakens old racist tropes against Chinese people" by John Pomfret, Washington Post, 2020 Februrary 5
245. The latest target of racist rumors about coronavirus: The ubiquitous dance troupe Shen Yun by Kim Bellware & Herman Wong (Feb. 25, 2020 at 8:09 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
246. "The coronavirus panic is turning the UK into a hostile environment for east Asians" by Sam Phan, The Guardian, 2020 January 27
247. "What's spreading faster than coronavirus in the US? Racist assaults and ignorant attacks against Asians" by Holly Yan, Natasha Chen and Dushyant Naresh, CNN
248. "‘No Chinese allowed’: Racism and fear are now spreading along with the coronavirus" by Quentin Fottrell, Marketwatch, 2020 February 3
249. "Trump calls coronavirus criticism Democrats' 'new hoax' and links it to immigration" by Daniel Strauss and Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, 2020 February 28
250. "What fuels prejudice?" by Peter Reuell, Harvard Gazette, 2019 August 5
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252. "Op-Ed: Trump’s race-baiting hasn’t produced many policy wins, but that was never the point" by Rich Benjamin, LA Times, 2019 July 19
253. "Watch out for this extremely fake, weirdly racist viral post about coronavirus" by Caitlin Welsh, Mashable.com, 2020 January 28
254. "Coronavirus: A Cameroon student on how he recovered" by Danny Vincent, BBC News, 2020 February 17
255. "Black people aren’t more resistant to novel coronavirus" by Anne-Sophie Faivre Le Cadre, AFP Fact Check, 2020 February 12
256. Conservative pastor says spread of coronavirus in synagogues is punishment from God (March 29, 2020 2:21 pm) Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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258. "Korean media’s focus on ‘gay’ club in COVID-19 case further stigmatizes LGBT people" by Ock Hyun-ju, Korea Herald, 2020 May 8
259. Higgins, M. (April 27, 2020). "The Essential Workers America Treats as Disposable." NYR Daily. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
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262. Dr. Strangelove: A Continuity Transcript
263. The GOP is not a pro-life party by Jennifer Rubin (April 14, 2020 at 6:30 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
264. "Texas Politician Suggests Grandma and Grandpa Should Be Willing to Die to Protect Wall Street" by Sanford Nowlin, Guardian, 2020 Mar 24
265. The U.S. was beset by denial and dysfunction as the coronavirus raged: From the Oval Office to the CDC, political and institutional failures cascaded through the system and opportunities to mitigate the pandemic were lost. by Yasmeen Abutaleb et al. (April 4, 2020) The Washington Post.
266. States with Republican Governors Delayed Action on Social Distancing Measures, Study Finds by James Walker (3/31/20 at 3:56 AM EDT) Newsweek.
267. The government has spent decades studying what a life is worth. It hasn't made a difference in the covid-19 crisis. The U.S. government often studies the trade-off between cost and safety. But the White House has failed to release any analysis of the pandemic, which could offer clues to what's ahead. by Todd C. Frankel (May 23, 2020 at 3:29 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
268. The Benefits and Costs of Using Social Distancing to Flatten the Curve for COVID-19 by Linda Thunstrom et al. (forthcoming as of May 2020) Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3561934.
269. Does Social Distancing Matter? by Michael Greenstone & Vishan Nigam (March 2020) Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago. Working Paper No. 2020-26.
270. Far-Right Trump Fan Bill Mitchell May Have Just Duped Followers Out Of $14,000 by Amy Russo (08/13/2019 05:14 pm ET) HuffPost.
271. We lost 6,000,000 people during the Holocaust. Did we shut down our economy then? Of course not. This is pure insanity. by @michellvii (7:39 PM • 4/5/20) Twitter (as caught by Yale Law Professor Scott Shapiro (archived from 6 Apr 2020 06:55:49 UTC).
272. "Protesting for the Freedom to Catch the Coronavirus" by Charlie Warzel, New York Times, 2020 April 19
273. "Fox News host defended anti-lockdown protesters carrying Confederate flags and falsely accused Michigan's governor of calling them Nazis" by Eliza Relman, Business Insider, 2020 Apr 16
274. Branson-Potts, H.; Chabria, A; Campa, A; Vega, P. (May 8, 2020). At protests, mostly white crowds show how pandemic has widened racial and political divisions. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
275. "Americans, including a plurality of Republicans, oppose the anti-lockdown protests taking place across the country" by Grace Panetta, Business Insider, 2020 Apr 21
276. "Conservatives Fuel Protests Against Coronavirus Lockdowns" by Manny Fernandez, New York Times, 2020 April 18
277. "Trump's Tea Party: Are right-wing "open the country" protests an AstroTurf operation?" by Sophia Tesfaye, Salon, 2020 April 16
278. "Who's Behind the Reopen Domain Surge?" by Brian Krebs, KrebsOnSecurity, 2020 April 20
279. The anti-quarantine protests seem spontaneous. But behind the scenes, a powerful network is helping. by Isaac Stanley-Becker &Tony Romm (April 22, 2020 at 3:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
280. "This Is How A Group Linked To Betsy DeVos Is Organizing Protests To End Social Distancing, Now With Trump's Support" by Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed.News, 2020 April 17
281. "'It's going to backfire': Fauci says anti-quarantine protesters could prolong shutdown" by Mike Brest, Washington Examiner, 2020 Apr 20
282. NBC News / Wall Street Journal Survey, Hart Research Associates, April 13-15 2020
283. "Tulsa health official says Trump rally "likely contributed" to spike in coronavirus cases" by Grace Segers and Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 2020 July 9
284. "Fox News Host Calls on ‘Healthy People’ to ‘Have Some Courage’ and Get Infected With Coronavirus" by Justin Baragona, Daily Beast, 2020 May 07
285. "After her colleagues dismissed the pandemic, ‘Fox & Friends’ weekend co-host contracts the coronavirus" by Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 2020 April 9
286. "New research explores how conservative media misinformation may have intensified the severity of the pandemic" by Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, 2020 June 25
287. "Elon Musk and Grimes welcome a baby boy" by Alaa Elassar, 2020 May 5, CNN
288. "Elon Musk said he isn't the 'biggest fan' of Warren Buffett. The billionaires have butted heads before." by Theron Mohamed, Business Insider, 2020 May 11
289. "Coronavirus has Elon Musk acting like just another used car salesman" by Julia Carrie Wong, Guardian, 2020 May 1
290. "Elon Musk claimed Tesla stock was priced 'too high,' causing shares to fall and shareholders to react. It's the latest in a string of controversial comments from the Tesla CEO over the past 2 months." by Avery Hartmans and Paige Leskin, Business Insider, 2020 May 1
291. "Tesla and Elon Musk reopen California facility, defying orders meant to stem coronavirus spread" by Brian Fung, CNN, 2020 May 11
292. It is now evident that this is an orchestrated attempt to destroy CAPITALISM. First sports, then schools and finally commercial businesses. Time to RISE UP and push back. Bars and restaurants should defy the order. Let people decide if they want to go out. by SheriffClarke (3:31 PM - 15 Mar 2020) Twitter (16 Mar 2020 02:22:10 UTC).
293. DR OZ: "Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but … that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider." by Aaron Rupar (8:25 AM - 16 Apr 2020) Twitter (archived from 16 Apr 2020 20:46:55 UTC).
294. Dr. Oz, Fox’s all-purpose coronavirus pundit, apologizes for pushing the ‘trade-off’ of reopening schools by Paul Farhi & Elahe Izadi (April 16, 2020 at 5:02 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
295. "Randi Weingarten: Teachers want to be in a classroom — Congress must make it safe" by Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers, USA Today, 2020 July 19
296. "Teachers Are Writing Their Wills" by Gretty Garcia, The Cut, New York magazine, 2020 July 20
297. "The shift of the coronavirus to primarily red states is complete — but it’s not that simple" by Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2020 June 24
298. "Florida Teachers Sue To Block School Coronavirus Reopening Mandate" by Greg Allen, NPR, 2020 July 20
299. "Back To School: Teachers Are Ready To Quit Rather Than Put Their Lives At Risk" by Caroline O'Donovan, Buzzfeed News, 2020 July 16
300. "Coronavirus concerns nudge some teachers toward classroom exits" by Kantele Franko, Associated Press, 2020 July 21
301. "Education secretary faces backlash after demanding schools reopen full-time amid pandemic" by Libby Cathey, ABC News, 2020 July 13
302. "Sen. Kennedy: Those Using Kids As Political Pawns To Close Schools Can "Kiss My Ass" by Ian Schwartz, RealClearPolitics, 2020 July 13
303. "White House: ‘Science Should Not Stand in the Way’ of School Openings" by Peter Wade, Rolling Stone, 2020 July 16
304. "As Schools Open, Coronavirus Outbreaks Follow" by Adam K. Raymond, New York magazine, 2020 Aug 7
305. "5 photos from schools that have reopened show a disaster in the making" by Taylor Borden, Business Insider, 2020 Aug 11
306. "1,193 Quarantined for Covid. Is This a Successful School Reopening?" by Richard Fausset, New York Times, 2020 Aug 12
307. "Students say they were suspended and others threatened with 'consequences' for posting photos of their school's packed hallways" by Gabby Landsverk, Insider, 2020 Aug 6
308. "Georgia school reverses suspension of teen who shared viral photo of hallway packed with students" by Lateshia Beachum, Washington Post, 2020 August 7
309. "35 students, teachers test positive for COVID-19 at North Paulding HS" by Angelina Velasquez, CBS 46, 2020 August 12
310. "U.S. School District Cancels Classes After Teacher 'Sick Out' Over Virus Fears", New York Times briefing, 2020 August 15
311. "Colleges Closing: University Outbreaks and Parental Angst" by Amelia Nierenberg and Adam Pasick, New York Times, 2020 Aug 19
312. JAMA. 2020;324(6):602-603. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12528 cited in Equal Justice Initiative. (January 7, 2021). "Covid-19’s Impact on People in Prison". Accessed Feburary 9, 2021.
313. Mark, M. (August 26, 2020). "More US prisoners have died of COVID-19 in recent months than have been executed in the last 20 years". Insider. Accessed February 9, 2021.
314. Powell, W. (September 7, 2020). "Bones in our basements: Addressing COVID-19 and incarceration". Medical News Today. Accessed February 9, 2021.
315. Lee, C. (February 7, 2021). "COVID-19 Killed My Husband in Jail. So Did Democrats’ Indifference". Current Affairs. Accessed February 9, 2021.
316. Goudie, C.; Markoff, B.; Tressel, C.; Weidner, R. (April 23, 2020). "Chicago coronavirus: Before Cook County Jail prisoner died of COVID, wife says she called 132 times for help". Accessed February 9, 2021
317. Corely, C. (April 13, 2020). "The COVID-19 Struggle In Chicago's Cook County Jail". NPR. Accessed February 9, 2021.
318. How many coronavirus deaths are truly attributable to Trump? by Philip Bump (Oct. 23, 2020 at 11:14 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
319. Estimating the COVID-Related Deaths Attributable to President Trump's Early Pronouncements About Masks by Robert A. Hahn (2021) International Journal of Health Services 51(1):14-17. doi:10.1177/0020731420960345.
320. 130,000-210,000 Avoidable COVID-19 Deaths — And Counting — in the U.S. by Irwin Redlener et al. (October 21, 2020) National Center for Disease Preparedness, Columbia University.
321. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, Trump’s Close Ally, Dangerously Downplays the Coronavirus Risk by Jon Lee Anderson (April 1, 2020) The New Yorker.
322. "Bolsonaro's disapproval rating rises amid virus havoc", France24, 2020 April 3
323. "Brazil's President Still Insists the Coronavirus Is Overblown. These Governors Are Fighting Back" by Matt Sandy and Flavia Milhorance, Time, 2020 April 6
324. "Brazilian President Fires Health Minister After Clashes Over Coronavirus Distancing" by Philip Reeves, AP, 2020 April 16
325. "Coronavirus: Brazil's Bolsonaro sees second health minister quit", BBC News, 2020 April 15
326. "Brazil’s Health Minister Quits After Refusing Bolsonaro’s Chloroquine Push" by Travis Waldron, Huffington Post, 2020 May 15
327. "Brazil ex-health chief says ministry 'lost credibility'", France24, 2020 June 20
328. See the Wikipedia Portuguese article on Eduardo Pazuello
329. "Coronavirus: Brazil's Bolsonaro joins anti-lockdown protests", BBC, 2020 April 20
330. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/so-what-bolsonaro-shrugs-off-brazil-rising-coronavirus-death-toll 'So what?': Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazil's rising coronavirus death toll] by Tom Phillips, Guardian, 2020 Apr 29
331. "Brazil's star justice minister Sérgio Moro resigns in blow to Jair Bolsonaro" by Tom Phillips, Guardian, 2020 Apr 24
332. "Brazilian President Bolsonaro's son suspended from Twitch after coronavirus denial: 'What pandemic? This is a media invention'" by Rachel E. Greenspan, Insider, 2020 May 4
333. "Brazil Must Be Open With Its Coronavirus Data, Supreme Court Justice Rules" by Colin Dwyer, NPR, 2020 June 9
334. "Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak" by the New York Times, 2020 June 11, archived on 2020 June 11
335. "Bolsonaro é o maior culpado pelas mortes na pandemia, diz pesquisa" por Robson Bonin, Veja. 2020 May 22
336. [https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-deletes-months-death-data-covid-tracker-bolsonaro-accused-manipulation-2020-6 "Brazil wiped months of data from its official COVID-19 tracker, the latest attempt by Jair Bolsonaro to play down the crisis" by Bill Bostock, Business Insider, 2020 Jun 7
337. "Coronavirus: Brazil resumes publishing Covid-19 data after court ruling", BBC News, 2020 June 9
338. "Brazil opens itself up, to everything except masks" by Bill Weir, CNN, 2020 July 6
339. "Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for Covid-19 after months of dismissing the seriousness of the virus" By Tara John, Marcia Reverdosa and Taylor Barnes, CNN, 2020 July 7
340. The rightwing Christian preachers in deep denial over Covid-19's danger. The Guardian.
341. Coronavirus: Trump and religious right rely on faith, not science. The Conversation.
342. "The coronavirus pandemic has exposed fissures within religions", Economist, 2020 Apr 11
343. "A virus that hits all faiths tests religion’s tie to science" By Elana Schor and Marian Fam, AP, 2020 Apr 15
344. Cellphone data shows coronavirus kept churchgoers at home in every state on Easter by Sarah Pulliam Bailey et al. (April 17 at 6:16 PM) The Washington Post.
345. "Brazil's Bolsonaro turns to prayer in coronavirus crisis" by Lisandra Paraguassu, Reuters, 2020 April 3
346. "Tanzania’s mild response to COVID-19 and its implications for the 2020 elections" by Neil Edwards, Atlantic Council, 2020 Mar 27
347. "Special Report: Five days of worship that set a virus time bomb in France" by Tangi Salaun, Reuters, 2020 March 30
348. "Nearly 3 dozen who attended Arkansas church event test positive for coronavirus" by Janelle Griffith, NBC News, 2020 March 26
349. ["CDC tracks cluster of coronavirus cases in rural Arkansas to church, raising alarm on religious gatherings"] by William Feuer, CNBC, 2020 May 19
350. "One German church service resulted in more than 100 coronavirus infections" by Zeeshan Aleem, Vox, 2020 May 24
351. "2 dead from coronavirus, 45 ill after March choir rehearsal" by Theresa Waldrop, Konstantin Toropin and Joe Sutton, CNN, 2020 April 2
352. Seoul city seeks murder charges against sect founder over virus AFP March 2, 2020
353. "Israel Faces Challenges In Fighting Coronavirus In Ultra-Orthodox Communities" by Daniel Estrin, NPR, 2020 April 1
354. "Israel health minister under fire over ultra-Orthodox COVID-19 crisis" by Ben Simon, AFP, 2020 April 8
355. "Calls to seal off ultra-Orthodox areas add to Israel's virus tensions" by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum, Guardian, 2020 April 6
356. "Israeli Health Minister Diagnosed With Coronavirus; Top Officials Forced to Quarantine" by Aaron Rabinowitz, Haaretz, 2020 April 02
357. https://www.jta.org/2020/04/07/israel/israels-health-minister-has-the-coronavirus-hes-also-under-fire-for-allegedly-defying-his-own-departments-orders "Israel’s health minister has the coronavirus. He’s also under fire for allegedly defying his own department’s orders."] by Sam Sokol, Jerusalem Telegraphic Agency, 2020 April 7
358. "Tanzanian President Declares 3 Days of National Prayer to Help Defeat Coronavirus" by VOA News, 2020 April 17
359. "Coronavirus: Tanzanian president promises to import Madagascar's 'cure'", BBC News, 2020 May 4
360. "Tanzania: Authorities must end crackdown on journalists reporting on COVID-19", Amnesty International, 2020 April 21
361. "Tanzania under fire from WHO for lackluster response to COVID-19 pandemic", Deutsche Welle, 2020 May 01
362. "Tanzania’s 480 Covid-19 cases now the highest in the region" by Beatrice Materu, East African, 2020 May 2
363. "Tanzania’s president is under pressure after three MPs die in 11 days and Covid-19 cases spike" by Rabson Kondowe, Quartz Africa, 2020 May 1
364. "Rodney Howard-Browne Gives Alex Jones A Handgun, Assures Him He’s Protected By God" by Kyle Mantyla, Right Wing Watch, 2018 May 17
365. "Florida Pastor Arrested After Defying Virus Orders" by Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 2020 March 30
366. "Preaching conspiracies: Coronavirus puts Tampa pastor’s beliefs into mainstream spotlight" by Tony Marrero, Tampabay.com, 2020 April 16
367. "Florida megachurch pastor says he's closing church due to 'tyrannical government'" by Kaelan Deese, The Hill, 2020 April 02
368. "Second pastor charged with violating public orders says church doors will still be open on Sunday" br Daniel Burke, CNN, 2020 April 1
369. [https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/08/louisiana-pastor-tony-spell-arrested-coronavirus-worshipers-sacrifice-god/ "If Parishioners Die After Contracting COVID-19 ... IT'S A SACRIFICE FOR GOD AND FREEDOM!!!"] by TMZ, April 8 2020
370. "Member of defiant Central church dies from coronavirus illness, but pastor says it's a lie" by David J. Mitchell, The Advocate, 2020 April 16
371. "Arrest warrant issued for defiant Louisiana pastor" by WAFB Staff, WAFB 9, 2020 April 20
372. "Falwell Focuses on Critics as Coronavirus Cases Near His University Grow" by Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 2020 April 16
373. "Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too" by Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 2020 March 29
374. "Two Liberty University employees test positive for coronavirus" by Richard Chumney, News and Advance, 2020 April 16
375. "Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says" by Neil Vigdor, New York Times, April 14 2020
376. "Bishop who defied lockdown to hold sermons is killed by coronavirus" by Jimmy McCloskey, Metro UK, 2020 Apr 14
377. "A monastery in Ukraine once scoffed at coronavirus measures. Now it is a hot spot." by David L. Stern, Washington Post, 2020 April 17
378. The Truth About "Dramatic Action" by Da Shiji (达史纪) (Jan 27, 2020) China Media Project.
379. How China’s authoritarian system made the pandemic worse by The Editorial Board (April 17, 2020 at 11:53 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
380. "China tried to keep a lid on the coronavirus. It put everyone at risk." by the Editorial Board, Washington Post, 2020 January 29
381. 'Hero who told the truth': Chinese rage over coronavirus death of whistleblower doctor" by Verna Yu, Guardian, 2020 February 7
382. "Obituary: Li Wenliang" by The Economist, 2020 February 13 edition
383. "China’s Official Newspaper Mislabels Video Footage in Coronavirus Coverage" by Dan MacGuill, Snopes,com, 2020 February 2020
384. "China Ramps Up Censorship On Coronavirus As Critics Risk Criminal Charges" by Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 2020 February 12
385. "How the Coronavirus Revealed Authoritarianism’s Fatal Flaw" by Zeynep Tufecki, The Atlantic, 2020 February 22
386. "Coronavirus Weakens China’s Powerful Propaganda Machine" by Li Yuan, New York Times, 2020 February 27
387. Trump team failed to follow NSC's pandemic playbook: The 69-page document, finished in 2016, provided a step by step list of priorities – which were then ignored by the administration. by Dan Diamond and Nahal Toosi (03/25/2020 08:00 PM EDT) Politico.
388. Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents Executive Office of the President of the United States.
389. We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook… that they ignored And an office called the Pandemic Preparedness Office… that they abolished. And a global monitoring system called PREDICT … that they cut by 75% by Ronald Klain (6:12 PM - 11 May 2020) Twitter (archived from 12 May 2020 13:41:13 UTC).
390. McConnell’s claim that Obama left behind no ‘game plan’ for the coronavirus outbreak by Glenn Kessler (May 14, 2020 at 12:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
391. Trump brags about high TV viewership of coronavirus briefings by Jan Wolfe (March 29, 2020 / 11:39 AM) Reuters.
392. "Media Covering Coronavirus to ‘Bring Down the President,’ Mulvaney Claims" by Annie Karni, New York Times, 2020 February 28
393. "Donald Trump Jr. just said something unreal about Democrats and the coronavirus" by Chris Cillizza, CNN, 2020 February 28
394. "The 1964 Report on Smoking and Health", U.S. National Library of Medicine, Reports of the Surgeon General
395. "Trump’s Contempt for Expertise Is Guiding His Coronavirus Response" by Fred Kaplan, Salon, 2020 February 28
396. "Pence's decades-old 'smoking doesn't kill' statement resurfaces after coronavirus appointment" by Vic Ryckaert, IndyStar, 2020 February 27
397. "Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID Director", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease
398. "Pence Will Control All Coronavirus Messaging From Health Officials" by Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 2020 February 27
399. "HHS whistleblower claims US workers received coronavirus evacuees without proper precautions" by Kristen Holmes, Amanda Watts and Caroline Kelly, CNN. February 28, 2020
400. Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains, Navy relieves captain who raised alarm about coronavirus outbreak on aircraft carrier. NBC News, April 3, 2020
401. "Trump Again Casts Doubt On Fauci As COVID-19 Cases Surge" by Barbara Sprunt, Tamara Keith, Franco Orodnez, and Alana Wise, NPR, 2020 July 13
402. "Fauci is sidelined by the White House as he steps up blunt talk on pandemic" by Yasmeen Abutaleb, Josh Dawsey and Laurie McGinley, Washington Post, 2020 July 11
403. "As Florida coronavirus cases spike, Ron DeSantis says mask requirement won’t work" by Kirby Wilson, Tampa Bay Times, 2020 June 26
404. "White House takes aim at Fauci but Trump has no current plans to fire him, source says" by Kristen Holmes and Kaitlan Collins, CNN, 2020 July 13
405. "Coronavirus and cover-up: Egypt's two-fronted war", Amr Khalifa, Middle East Eye, March 29, 2020
406. "With a curfew and unreliable virus toll, Egypt faces a cruel Ramadan", Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, March 29, 2020
407. "El Salvador’s president is using covid-19 as an excuse to abuse his power" by the Washington Post Editorial Board, 2020 May 1
408. "Authoritarian leaders are using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to lock up dissenters and grab power, human rights experts warn" by Cristina Maza, Business Insider, 2020 Apr 9
409. How coronavirus helps Putin by Alec Luhn, Politico, 2020 March 18
410. "For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power" by Selam Gebrekidan, New York Times, 2020 March 30
411. "Would-be autocrats are using covid-19 as an excuse to grab more power", The Economist, 2020 April 23
412. "Democracies contain epidemics most effectively", The Economist, 2020 June 6
413. Carl Benedikt Frey, Chinchih Chen, and Giorgio Presidente. "Democracy, Culture, and Contagion: Political Regimes and Countries Responsiveness to Covid-19*", Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, 2020 May 13
414. "Ugandan police accused of abusing lockdown laws after LGBT arrests" by Jason Burke, 2020 Apr 1, The Guardian
415. "The coronavirus brings new and awful repression for Uighurs in China" by Josh Rogin, Washington Post, 2020 February 26
416. "India’s Hindu Nationalists Are Inciting Hate By Claiming Muslims Are Spreading Coronavirus" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2020 April 20
417. "Trump's coronavirus order scapegoats immigrants and doesn't make us safer" by Linda Chavez and Scott Roehm, USA Today, 2020 April 28
418. "Venezuela declares war on those infected with coronavirus" by Anataoly Kurmanaev, Isayen Herrera and Sheyla Urdanetta, The Irish Times 2020 August 19
419. Covid-19 Forces 100,000 Venezuelan Migrants Back to Broken Country by John Otis, The Wall Street Journal 2020 August 30