IF you believe coronavirus is a conspiracy...

[OutComeTheWolves]

... do you believe Boris is in on it?

I've read and heard a few people saying the it's a conspiracy to use fear to remove a lot of our freedoms in one fell swoop. But, unless he's a very good actor, Boris Johnson seems to be actually really reluctant to remove our individual liberties. So I was just wondering what people thought?

As a disclaimer I should add that I don't think it is part of a huge plan to do this, but I could maybe believe that it was an accidental leak from a lab or something. I think when something like this happens it's human nature to look for reasons why it happened because the thought that a random quirk of nature could cause these problems worldwide is terrifying.

[LilacTree1]

Hammer, we have a street violence gang? Are they on furlough?

[midnightstar66]

@starlightgazers quite! 🤣

[Bearbehind]

I’m not sure why people are asking for this thread to be deleted - there has to be more to it than we currently know

Don’t others think it’s an amazing coincidence that there’s a virology lab right where the outbreak occurred?

Even if it is a coincidence, it would be foolish and naive to totally dismiss it as a possible cause until it’s proven otherwise

Even the language around it as a source has changed to say it is a possibility

[midnightstar66]

No idea why it would be deleted either, at worst people actually believe some of this stuff but it's easily available to find elsewhere - at best it's entertaining 😆

[midnightstar66]

@Bearbehind even the UK government acknowledges that a lab accident isn't beyond the realms of possibility. I read it on sky news not some conspiracy site

[Nokiding]

The spread of utter nonsense like these 'theories' is just about as depressing as the virus situation as a whole.

Dangerous nonsense spouted by morons one and all.

[Bearbehind]

even the UK government acknowledges that a lab accident isn't beyond the realms of possibility. I read it on sky news not some conspiracy site

I know, that’s the point I’m making

Surely it’s more dangerous to just assume it was bats or pangolins?

[CocoCorona]

I’m not talking about our government. Our government wouldn’t be able to pull off something like this. Our governments are good at silencing people (Dr Kelly?) and wheeling and dealing with Russian oligarchs on the low. Basically keeping their shady goings on within government.

China is an authoritarian state. They have control over everyone. They can order anything and their citizens must comply or pay a penalty with their life.

The Chinese have been keeping Uigher Muslims in concentration camps for months and ethnically cleansing the area. They have been harvesting their organs and selling them to Saudis as “halal donors”. They have been testing Muslim prisoners with all sorts of medications and scientific experiments. This has been happening, and it’s not a conspiracy theory. Please read up about the Uigher concentration camps. So how far fetched is it that this virus was created, leaked and the Chinese authorities silenced people into talking about it, until WHO intervened once again?

What is ludicrous is people defending the Chinese government when they have the worst human rights record.

[midnightstar66]

@Bearbehind I don't think anyone is fully assuming anything right now just the most likely then next most likely scenario. But as far as I'm aware they are working on the assumption it could be a natural virus being studied that has accidentally mutated and released rather than a man made one like you said earlier - due to the viral make up. I'm sure other options are being considered but that's what's most likely with the evidence they currently have

[Butterfly98]

Surely people don't really believe that the last few weeks have been a practice run for how governments would control people if something much worse happened in the world??

Interestingly, in the comment section of the DM yesterday (yes I know 🤣) on the story about Boris being moved from ICU to a normal ward. I couldn't believe the amount of people who think it that it was made up that he was in ICU in the first place! They think it was a way of getting people to stay home because 'look what happened to the PM'!

[iamapixie]

It is not a conspiracy.
However, there are many in power who are very good at reacting quickly and making gains and they will be using the situation to their own advantage.
So it is unquestionably a very good time to invest money in shares; it is a very good time to be Amazon, or a supermarket or a multinational agri-business. On the face of it, it may be a bad time to be an airline, but looking at the Easyjet loan, it appears that as ever 'business as usual' will be supported.
Meanwhile all the pesky issues that people were starting to be interested in like plastics and climate change are put on the back burner.
No one planned this but the reason why some people are very rich and very powerful (or able to maintain inherited wealth and power) is because they are extremely adaptable.

[WomanIsTaken]

adiposegirl, The Epoch Times is an alt right populist publication, enthusiastically supportive of, and endorsed by Donald Trump. Owing to its origins, it is also essentially anti Chinese. Go figure. Or perhaps that's what's meant by your instruction to "Do your own research" (rallying cry of conspiracy theorists who don't feel the research already available is wooo enough)? Maybe it's time to pull this thread after all.

[WhatHoJeeves]

Yay, isn't it just great that SM allows all the nutters to converse with each other and confirm each other's idiocy?

Once, these people would have just bored others in the pub, and received a few rolled eyes in response.

Now, they can give the impression that half the world is crazy by gathering together on a thread.

Progress, huh

[calllaaalllaaammma]

Conspiracy theories involving BAME communities are very premature as the virus has only infected 10% of the uk population so far, mostly in inner city areas and high density areas which have larger BAME populations and health care workers within those areas where many of the staff are BAME.
Spanish flu infected 60% of the population by the time it was done and many of the locked down white communities may contract and suffer the consequences eventually over the course of time.
It’s too early to say there’s a statistical link yet.

[HighNetGirth]

If it is so lethal to BAME populations then West Africa should be seeing horrendous death rates, but so far that is not happening.

More African Americans are dying than white Americans, for sure, because of relative greater poverty, pre-existing conditions caused by that poverty and lack of access to healthcare.

More BAME doctors have died here than one might expect. It could be other factors- a couple of cases at least were retired volunteers coming back to help the NHS. It could even out as the pandemic progresses. Too early to say.

And I wish people would stop talking about ‘Africa’ as if it is one homogenous society. Africa is bigger than China and incredibly diverse genetically, socially and economically.

[Iwannabeadored20]

African nations haven’t had the same degree of exposure yet, @Highnetwoman

[Iwannabeadored20]

@HighNetGirth sorry

[Carrotcakeforbreakfast]

I dont think it is premature at all

There are similar numbers of infected between all communities.
Yet BAME aren't doing as well.

[1984isnow]

China is an authoritarian state. They have control over everyone. They can order anything and their citizens must comply or pay a penalty with their life.

The Chinese have been keeping Uigher Muslims in concentration camps for months and ethnically cleansing the area. They have been harvesting their organs and selling them to Saudis as “halal donors”. They have been testing Muslim prisoners with all sorts of medications and scientific experiments. This has been happening, and it’s not a conspiracy theory. Please read up about the Uigher concentration camps. So how far fetched is it that this virus was created, leaked and the Chinese authorities silenced people into talking about it, until WHO intervened once again?

What is ludicrous is people defending the Chinese government when they have the worst human rights record.

What's even more ludicrous, is that China, despite all of this, have just been appointed to the UN Human Rights Council. They will, I believe, have influence on appointing 'world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances'. I couldn't think of a better candidate for the panel.

[midnightstar66]

African nations aren't as badly affected - yet. The wealth that allows us to travel so freely in developed countries means its hit us far sooner. Also we aren't used to dealing with this. Africa is to a point (as are China which was a reason they were able to to act far more quickly

[Oakmaiden]

The Chinese government have been killing Muslims in China for months now and then this virus comes out of nowhere and is more lethal to black/Asians.

Um - so you are suggesting that the Chinese have developed a virus in order to target Muslims, and have designed the virus to be especially deadly to Asians? Do you want to rethink that?

[Mittens030869]

Conspiracy theories are ridiculous - pandemics are relatively common events and we were overdue one. Disease has always been the biggest threat to man, but some like to think the human race and medicine has become too advanced for mass disease and death, but it simply isn’t true.

^This definitely. The Black Death killed off one third of the world population in the Middle Ages and there have been plenty of epidemics over the centuries, e.g. cholera, smallpox etc.

And comparisons have been made with the Spanish flu at the end of World War I.

But back in those days, as has been said, disease wasn't so scary as it is in the Western world today.

It isn't like that in African countries, as millions already die of malaria every year, and quite a few countries have had the recent experience of dealing with the Ebola outbreak. (They've had another outbreak recently.)

[PeterWeg]

If about 1,500 people normally die every day, and we have a Covid death rate of about 1,000, of which some would also have been in that 1,500 anyway..... so, we could say we will be getting about 2,000 deaths a day at the moment.

It kills people with certain heath issues, issues that are more prevalent in certain ethnic groups.
In China, very few victims were BAME.

[midnightstar66]

I think in the Uk there has been reported Asian deaths because the reported deaths are high profile (dr's, nurses, young children) and the worst pandemic area is london which is obviously highly diverse anyway but has a very high number of Asian HCP's

[midnightstar66]

On top of that vitamin D deficiency is possibly an issue with recovery rates. People in the Uk struggle far more than those in Italy with vitamin d levels due to lack of sun and lifestyle and darker skin absorbs less. I imagine a consultant in London working 50+ hours a week on shifts struggles to get enough sunlight