What Are Some Of The Biggest COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories?

It’s not just COVID-19 that’s been spreading around the world: talk of the virus has been spreading at an even faster rate. The main subjects people keep talking about the latest figures, the current lockdown measures and the rollout of vaccines. However, many people have also been looking at the pandemic from a different angle and have been sharing conspiracy theories about it.

Here are some of the main ones to do with the pandemic. Have a read and see what you think – do they sound preposterous or could some of them have an inkling of truth to them?

Inflated Numbers

At the time of writing, there have been 101 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. A total of 73.4 million people have tested positive and made a full recovery, while 2.18 million have tested positive and, unfortunately, died. A massive effort is being made by countries around the world to keep track of the virus and how many it’s infected, so that it can hopefully be controlled and dealt with.

A leading conspiracy theory is that the figures are deliberately being adjusted to make the pandemic seem worse than what it actually is. Some countries have been manipulating their figures – this includes the number of deaths, as well as the number of cases – to justify the restrictive lockdown measures and make people comply with the rules more willingly.

Apparently, the virus is still infecting and killing people, but not quite on the scale we’re being lead to believe. Governments still want the virus gone, but if the ‘true’ figures were released, the public wouldn’t treat the outbreak as seriously as they’re doing now.

Biological Warfare

Another leading conspiracy theory is that COVID-19 is manmade. It was created in a Chinese lab in Wuhan and its release into the wider population was planned as part of some sort of biological warfare scheme. The theory goes that the virus was released as part of a plan to make China stronger and more powerful. China would suffer, of course, but eventually other countries would suffer a lot more. This theory is backed up by the fact that China has only reported 4,600 deaths (the country’s very strict lockdown approach, especially in Wuhan, meant it was able to keep deaths quite low compared with other countries). There’s also the fact that China is the only major world economy to have reported growth in 2020 – all other major countries saw their economies shrink.

The Great Reset

Another prevalent conspiracy theory is that there are plans for a so-called ‘great reset’ that will change various aspects of society to suit a globalist agenda. What many believe is that leaders have been planning an overhaul of modern life so they can introduce greener and more socialist principles.

Climate change, which itself has lots of conspiracy theories associated with it, is a big part of government policy. Whether you believe in it or not, there’s no denying that many governments are keen to make the countries greener. A reset supposedly involves people living more sustainable, environmentally friendly lives and governments taking more control of their economies.

Some claim the virus was released on purpose so that governments could use a pandemic as an excuse for introducing new measures and ‘resetting’ various aspects of society. Others believe the virus wasn’t manmade and wasn’t deliberately released, but its spread has been all too convenient for governments looking to readjust the way people live.

Vaccines

At the time of writing, there are several vaccines being rolled out. In the UK alone, 5.8 million have received their first of two doses. There have been many conspiracy theories relating to vaccines and one of the major ones is that people are being injected with trackable microchips. The idea is that governments can track who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t. Other theories claim that vaccines are going to make a significant percentage of people impotent as part of a population control measure. A more sinister theory suggests that vaccines may have a higher-than-normal death rate (all vaccines can kill, but only do so in very rare cases). Part of what fuels vaccine theories is that it usually takes many years for a vaccine to be tested and approved. COVID-19 vaccines have been produced much more quickly because of the urgent need for them, but the fact remains that we don’t know what (if any) long-term side-effects they may have. Another factor that causes people to believe vaccine conspiracy theories is how countries are talking about implementing vaccine passports. The idea is that if you’ve been vaccinated, you’ll have proof of it and will be able to travel to other countries and access more freedoms than those who haven’t been vaccinated. In other words, passports would heavily encourage people to get a vaccine.