Fact Check-Video Shows No Evidence of COVID-19 Scam

The COVID-19 pandemic is not a scam organized by the British Government.

A series of videos that have been watched more than 93,000 times in total detail the plot that the COVID-19 pandemic is a scam organized by the British government. The video shows a man visiting three councils in East Midlands County, Nottinghamshire, and presenting evidence of suspicion of hoax to authorities (Here , Here And Here).

Representative of the district council representing Mansfield (www.mansfield.gov.uk) and Newark (www.mansfield.gov.uk)www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/) Expressed concern about the video in an email to Reuters, stating that “the public is becoming more interested” despite being “filled with false information about COVID-19 and the vaccination program.” .. This article describes the most false claims.

Separation of SARS-CoV-2

The individual photographed claims that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, has never been isolated. As evidence, he demonstrated a Freedom of Information (FOI) response from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in August 2020, “DHSC does not retain information on the isolation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”Here And Here).

This does not mean that the government has “acknowledged” that the virus has not been identified (Here, Timestamp 16.30), it’s just that there is no data in DHSC. In fact, there are several examples of scientists isolating SARS-CoV-2 (Here , Here , Here , Here), And also performed a complete genome sequence (Here , Here , Here).

A photo of the isolated virus was published by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)Here) And the Museum of Natural History in Oxford have opened the first genomic map-based art installation of SARS-CoV-2 from Wuhan, China ()Here).

Responding to a similar request in March 2021 (Here), The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also stated that information on the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 mutants is available on the Emergency Science Advisory Group (SAGE) website ().Here).

“COVID-19 is not dangerous”

Part of the evidence of “COVID fraud” is a document showing that the government has downgraded the virus.

However, this decision does not mean that the virus is harmless. The government initially rated COVID-19 (then called Coronavirus in Wuhan) as a serious infectious disease (HCID) in January 2020 (Here), But downgraded after two months due to a better understanding of testing and mortality ()Here).

HCID is 50% of Ebola (Here) And 15% of SARS (Here), This is an estimated 1% of COVID-19 (Here). However, the ease with which the virus spreads means that COVID-19 was infected and killed millions more people ()covid19.who.int/) From the recent outbreak of SARS (www.nhs.uk/conditions/sars/) And Ebola (Here).

The man also gave council officials false information that COVID-19 was less deadly than seasonal flu and that Reuters had been repeatedly exposed (Here , Here And Here).

“Face masks are harmful”

In addition to his conspiracy argument, the speaker claims to mask lower blood oxygen levels and cause health problems such as pneumonia.

Reuters confirmed this claim in early May: face masks do not affect the amount of oxygen you breathe, and evidence shows that they are completely safe ()Here).

“Vaccines are deadly and unnecessary”

The filmed speaker tells council employees that the dose of COVID-19 is not a vaccine, but rather a “genetically modified”. This is an unfounded claim that has spread throughout the pandemic.

This may have resulted from confusion about the new mRNA technology used in the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. This involves injecting a small portion of the viral genetic code (RNA) to stimulate the immune response of uninfected patients (Here And Here).

But as Reuters repeatedly explains (Here , Here And Here), mRNA from the vaccine does not alter the recipient’s DNA. It is broken down immediately after vaccination and does not stay in the body (Here).

Men also suggest that vaccines are not needed for treatments such as “successful worldwide” ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine (Here, Timestamp 16.57). Again, there is no evidence for this claim.

Ivermectin is a drug used to treat parasites (Here) And human trials did not suggest that it was valid against COVID-19 (Here And Here). Medical institutions in Europe and the United States advise not to use ivermectin in connection with the new coronavirus (Here And Here).

The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which former President Donald Trump advertised as a potential “game changer,” was also found to be “useless” against COVID-19 in a UK trial last year (Here). Other studies have concluded that treatment is more harmful than good (Here).

verdict

error. COVID-19 is not a conspiracy, it is an infectious disease that has killed more than 3.3 million people so far (covid19.who.int/).

This article was created by the Reuters fact-checking team. For more information on our efforts to fact check social media posts, please visit www.reuters.com/fact-check/about.