COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was a pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (formerly 2019-nCoV) which causes the disease called COVID-19."Coronavirus disease named Covid-19", BBC News, 11 February 2020 It lasted from January 2020 until May 2023, when the World Health Organization declared that COVID was no longer a health emergency.Statement on the fifteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, World Health Organization, 5 May 2023.
The virus was first detected in in December 2019 by most official accounts, but a leaked Chinese government document indicates that the first known patient was as early as November based on retrospective analyses.Coronavirus: China’s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17 by Josephine Ma (8:00am, 13 Mar, 2020) South China Morning Post.Wuhan’s early covid cases are a mystery. What is China hiding? (November 17, 2022 at 11:03 a.m. EST) The Washington Post. The first cluster of cases, of what was initially thought to be a mysterious case of were reported to the China National Health Commission on December 30, 2019.Wang, C., Horby, P.W., Hayden, F.G. and Gao, G.F., 2020. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. The lancet, 395(10223), pp.470-473."China pneumonia outbreak: Mystery virus probed in Wuhan", BBC News, 2020 January 3 Chaolin Wang et al. were the first to report on the clinical features of the first 41 patients admitted to who were later confirmed on Jan 2, 2020 as being infected with COVID-19.Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren, L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, G., Xu, J., Gu, X. and Cheng, Z., 2020. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The lancet, 395(10223), pp.497-506. “In December, 2019, a series of pneumonia cases of unknown cause emerged in Wuhan, Hubei, China, with clinical presentations greatly resembling viral pneumonia. Deep sequencing analysis from lower respiratory tract samples indicated a novel coronavirus, which was named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).” […] “Of 59 suspected cases, 41 patients were confirmed to be infected with 2019-nCoV.” It was quickly identified as a new disease in January 2020."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
Since then, SARS-CoV-2 has spread from a relatively small initial-infection to over 691,770,965 cases (and 6,901,646 deaths) as of July 21, 2023. COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University On May 15, 2021, The Economist unveiled a model to estimate excess deaths worldwide during the pandemic. As of June 2024, this model estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic caused an estimated 19.1 to 36 million excess deaths in total (compared with the official death count of 7.1 million deaths)."The pandemic's true death toll", The Economist, 2024 June 10, archived at archive.ph on 2024 June 10 The (WHO) stated that some studies put the mortality rate at 0.6%Bloomberg (there is substantial uncertainty about this estimate), which is higher than influenza but significantly lower than other coronavirusThe word ‘coronavirus’ refers to viruses that are members of the Subfamily Orthocoronavirinae infections such as "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
Mortality is not the sole cause of concern with COVID-19, as there is also the possibility of lasting health effects following infection.
From ‘brain fog’ to heart damage, COVID-19’s lingering problems alarm scientists by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel (Jul. 31, 2020 , 1:30 PM) Science. However, scientists have not researched these “lasting health-effects” in depth, as the vast majority of people who test positive (up to 80%)Coronavirus: Up to 80% diagnosed with COVID-19 have no symptoms, health secretary says: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says this is a "significant finding" and makes controlling the virus "difficult". (11 June 2020 21:21, UK) Sky News. experienced no symptoms whatsoever, leading scientists to prioritise the more severe cases that require hospitalization. There have been isolated reports of reinfection, which raise questions regarding long-term immunity.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.
Deaths from COVID-19 mostly occur among older people — the median age of COVID-19 death ranges between 79 (USA) and 86 years old (Canada).Studies on Covid-19 Lethality: 3) Median age of Covid-19 deaths per country (Updated: Sept. 2022) Swiss Policy Research. In Sweden, which adopted a "herd immunity" strategy, out of 5837 deaths, only 73 were of people younger than 50 years old.Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Sweden, by age groups January 11, 2023) Statista. COVID-19’s infection rate, somewhat paradoxically, makes it far more dangerous to society at large. More lethal diseases tend to burn out: they kill their hosts too quickly and too effectively to spread, and consequently the virus dies out in the absence of any hosts. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has been declared a by the World Health Organization."Coronavirus emergency: here’s what we know so far", UN.Org, 2020 February 3 The pandemic started out as an epidemic in China where it caused severe disruptions and lockdowns"China struggles to return to work after coronavirus shutdown" by Ryan McMorrow, Christian Shepherd and Tom Mitchell, Financial Times, 2020 February 10 before spreading to multiple nations around the globe and becoming a pandemic in the process; at one point a third of the global population were in lockdown. http://archive.is/DXAHx “A third of the global population is on coronavirus lockdown—here's our constantly updated list of countries locking down and opening up”] by Juliana Kaplan, Lauren Frias and Morgan McFall-Johnsen, Business Insider, archived on 2020 April 28 On 6 May, 2023, the WHO announced COVID emergency is over but the coronavirus is still affecting thousands of lives every week.WHO chief declares end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency‘It’s still killing and it’s still changing.’ Ending COVID-19 states of emergency sparks debate
Social media, unfortunately, has promulgated: panic, misinformation, racism, and quackery related to COVID-19 far faster than the virus itself. To add insult to injury, the actions of the 45th president of the United States — Donald Trump — during the pandemic, have led to what University of Chicago economics professor Austan Goolsbee called the "pathological irony of crisis":I call it the pathological irony of crisis (happens w/financial crises, too): if you lose your credibility, your statements begin to mean the opposite of what you say. by Austan Goolsbee (5:28 AM - 4 Feb 2020) Twitter (archived from February 5, 2020).
== Symptoms ==
COVID-19 presents symptoms similar to influenza., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention† cf. Influenza symptoms:
* CDC Influenza symptoms
* WHO Influenza symptoms
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 to 14 days after exposure, but it's important to note that many infections are completely asymptomatic. The CDC now estimates that up to 35% of cases present 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)., Cascella M, Rajnik M, Cuomo A, et al. Features, Evaluation, and Treatment of Coronavirus. [Updated 2020 Oct 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-, Murthy S, Gomersall CD, Fowler RA. Care for Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19. JAMA. 2020;323(15):1499–1500. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.3633 People in higher-risk categories are more likely to experience these problems. Children who contract COVID-19 can also experience .
===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, memory problems ("brain fog"), depression, anxiety and heart palpitations.www.bbc.com/news/amp/health-54296223Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions (Updated May 5, 2022) Centers for Diesease Control (archived from May 6, 2022).
==What science says==
In 2020, due to COVID-19’s novelty and its rapid spread in China, COVID-19 was dubbed “a health emergency” and evaluated by all major health organizations around the world."Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary", Center of Disease Control, 2020 February 20 SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the disease is a which mostly infects . Although the details are still unclear, it is suspected that this virus underwent — that is, it crossed over from an animal—a natural reservoir—(almost certainly a bat) to humans."Coronavirus came from bats or possibly pangolins amid ‘acceleration’ of new zoonotic infections" by Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 2020 February 7
SARS-CoV-2 spreads via respiratory droplets or aerosols (like suspensions of said droplets in the air) produced when an infected person coughs, talks or sneezes."How COVID-19 Spreads", Center of Disease Control Airborne transmission can occur indoors, particularly in more crowded and less ventilated settings. In 2019 a Chinese CDC study demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is more contagious than some coronaviruses like and , and they found that under certain conditions SARS-CoV-2 behaves more like influenza† viruses."Chinese CDC study finds Covid-19 virus to be more contagious than SARS or MERS" by James Griffiths and Nectar Gan, CNN, 2020 February 19"How does the new coronavirus spread? These new studies offer clues." by Julia Belluz, Vox.com, 21 February 2020 Unfortunately, once someone is infected, the full clinical picture of COVID-19 was not fully understood yet at the time. While many people have had only mild symptoms, the disease has been deadly for some. Thus, the potential public health threats posed by COVID-19 are high, in part because of the uncertainty in 2020. COVID-19 is more lethal among the elderly, smokers, and people with chronic health conditions (like heart disease, or )."Coronavirus' Top Targets: Men, Seniors, Smokers" by Karen Weintraub, WebMd.com
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.The Coronavirus Is No 1918 Pandemic - The Atlantic Coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) are notable causes of acute infective endocarditis (acute IE) after cardiac surgery,“Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus—An Overview”, Science Direct“S. aureus and CoNS are notable causes of acute IE following cardiac surgery (typically <60 days) and in the presence of prosthetic valves, endovascular materials, or indwelling vascular catheters.” and according to one study—of secondary infections in patients hospitalised with COVID-19–the majority of bloodstream infections are caused by CoNS.Ripa, M., Galli, L., Poli, A., Oltolini, C., Spagnuolo, V., Mastrangelo, A., Muccini, C., Monti, G., De Luca, G., Landoni, G. and Dagna, L., 2021. “Secondary infections in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: incidence and predictive factors.” Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 27(3), pp.451-457.
“Most of the BSIs were due to Gram-positive pathogens (76/106 isolates, 71.7%), specifically coagulase-negative staphylococci (53/76, 69.7%) […]”. S. epidermis and S. aureus—both CoNs—are common causes of acute IE in prosthetic heart valves and in native valves.Thomas M. Bashore, CHAPTER 22 - Infective Endocarditis, Editor(s): Catherine M. Otto, Robert O. Bonow, “Valvular Heart Disease: A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease (Third Edition)”, W.B. Saunders, 2009, Pages 356-382; doi:10.1016/B978-1-4160-5892-2.00022-2.
* “Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are a common cause of early PVE.”
* “S. epidermidis predominates as a cause of IE.”
* “Native valve IE caused by CoNS is uncommon”. Fortunately patients with native valve IE can be treated with antibiotics: a combination of gentamicin with either β-lactams or vancomycin, and this has been shown in most studies to be superior to treatment with monoclonal antibodies. On the other hand, the CoNS that infect patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis tend to be resistant to β-lactams, but respond better to other antibiotics such as gentamicin.
===Prevention===
Preventing COVID-19 has been a challenge because infected people may not realize they are infected, and thus unwittingly spread the disease instead of staying home or calling a doctor.You're Likely to Get the Coronavirus - The Atlantic, which we hope is wrong about this one The CDC has tested patients with flu-like symptoms for the virus in order to help contain it.CDC Begins to Test Patients with Flu-like Symptoms for Coronavirus - Contagion Live 
Because the transmission method is similar, prevention methods are also similar to the flu (and other respiratory viruses)."Coronavirus Disease 2019: Prevention and Treatment", Center of Disease ControlInterim Guidance: Get Your Household Ready for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) - CDCCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public - World Health Organization
* 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, you must assume that everyone is potentially infected, including yourself, and treat them as such in order to effectively mitigate the virus. Hence the need for masks and social distancing in any public space.
==== Vaccines ====
On December 2, 2020, Tozinameran, an vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, was approved for usage starting in the United Kingdom, followed by the United States on December 11. 
Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine received emergency use authorization in the US on December 18, 2020. 
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford developed AZD1222b (an adenovirus vaccine), and the UK and Argentina approved AZD1222b on December 30, 2020., "Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine authorised by UK medicines regulator". UK press release. 30 December 2020., Laing, Aislinn. "Argentine regulator approves AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine -AstraZeneca" Reuters. 30 December 2020. The vaccine, which was almost entirely publicly funded, was supposed to be available to any manufacturer without the need of paying royalties until the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation intervened and gave pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca an exclusive license, which had huge implications on the accessibility of the vaccine in poorer countries.Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’, Michael Safi, The Guardian 15 April 2021 
Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceutical—in collaboration with the Beth Deaconess Israel Medical Center—developed the Ad26.COV2.S (an adenovirus vaccine) in Feb 2021 (WHO Background document Janssen Ad26. COV2. S, see §.“Context” p. 3).World Health Organization, 2021. Background document on the Janssen Ad26. COV2. S (COVID-19) vaccine: background document to the WHO Interim recommendations for use of Ad26. COV2. S (COVID-19) vaccine (2021) On February 4, 2021 Janssen Biotech, Inc. (the Sponsor) submitted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) [cf. this addendum] request to the FDA for an “investigational vaccine intended to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2”, and clinical trials of Ad26.COV2.S began (Phase III).Oliver, S.E., Gargano, J.W., Scobie, H., Wallace, M., Hadler, S.C., Leung, J., Blain, A.E., McClung, N., Campos-Outcalt, D., Morgan, R.L. and Mbaeyi, S., 2021. The advisory committee on immunization practices’ interim recommendation for the use of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in February 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(9), p.329. Unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require two doses over a period of several weeks, the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine requires only one dose.
The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology developed the Sputnik VThe name ‘Sputnik V’ is interchangeable with the name ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’, since both names denote the same vaccine. (a double adenovirus vector vaccine) and Russia approved Sputnik V in August 2020. However, data was not made publicly available (in the Lancet) until February 2, 2021. Trial results of Sputnik V showed a 91.6% efficacy rate, and many countries subsequently approved it for emergency use, including the UAE, Turkey, Israel, India, and Mexico. The application by the EMA is currently pending.
Summary of vaccine candidates
 	 	 	 	Efficacy against 	Efficacy against
Name 	Technology 	Doses 	Manufacturer 	Symptoms 	Severe disease
Comirnaty (tozinameran) 	mRNA 	2 (3-12 weeks apart depending on country)The best Covid vaccine is the one you can get — here’s how they compare, [CNBC]. Retrieved 4 August 2021Finland recommends giving Covid vaccine at 12-week interval. Retrieved 4 August 2021Pfizer produces much stronger protection if doses months apart: study, USA Today Sun — retrieved 8/4/2021 with boosters approved for the immunocompromisedFDA authorizes COVID-19 vaccine boosters for the immunocompromised (13 August, 2021.) MSN.	Pfizer/BioNtech 	66% (against delta)[https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/24/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html Pfizer data suggest third dose of Covid-19 vaccine 'strongly' boosts protection against Delta variant
] CNN, July 28, 2021 	88% (against delta)
Spikevax (elasomeran) 	mRNA 	2 (4 weeks apart) with boosters approved for the immunocompromised 	Moderna 	93%Moderna says its Covid vaccine booster produced ‘robust’ immune response against delta by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. (Aug 5, 2021) CNBC. 	
Covishield, Vaxzevria (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]) 	Viral vector 	2 (4 weeks-12 weeks apart) 	Oxford-AstraZeneca 	60% (against delta)Comparing the COVID-19 Vaccines: How Are They Different? by Kathy Katella (August 4, 2021) Yale Medicine. 	93% (against delta)
Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine 	Viral vector 	1 with no booster suggested yet 	Johnson & Johnson 	64% (against mutations) 	82% (against mutations)
Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) 	Viral vector 	2 (3 weeks apart)Sputnik V Vaccine - Efficacy, Doses, Side Effects and Price (Retrieved August 11, 2021.) Pace Hospitals 	Gamaleya Research Institute	83% against deltaSputnik V Dose 83% Effective On Delta Variant, Lower Than Previously Reported 90%: Russia (August 11, 2021) Republic World. (previously reported as ~90%)Russia's Sputnik V shot around 90% effective against Delta variant, developers say (June 29, 2021.) Reuters. 	
Covaxin 	Inactivated virus	Covaxin Gap 4 Weeks as Protection of 1st Dose Not High: ICMR Head The Quint (retrieved 4 August, 2021.) 	Bharat Biotech 	77.8%India’s “Covaxin” vaccine shows high efficacy against COVID-19 infections in phase 3 trial: A vaccine that was authorised by the Indian government ahead of phase 3 trials now shows promising results, making Covaxin a potentially valuable addition to the global armoury of vaccines against COVID-19. by Linda Geddes (6 July 2021) Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.	93.4%
BBIBP-CorV"The Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine: What you need to know", World Health Organization. Published May 10, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021. 	Inactivated virus	2 (3-4 weeks apart) 	Sinopharm 	79%The Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine: What you need to know (10 May 2021) World Health Organization. 	79%
CoronaVac (PiCoVacc)WHO validates Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and issues interim policy recommendations (1 June 2021) World Health Organization.	Inactivated virus	2 (2-4 weeks apart) with a booster possible/requiredSinovac booster shot gives big increase in neutralizing antibodies: study Global Times China (August, 9 2021.) 	Sinovac Biotech 	51% 	100%
An Overview of the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Verywellhealth.com (June 18, 2021.)( 	Protein 	2 (4 weeks apart) 	Novavax 	91-93% 	
===Which vaccine should you take?===
The simple answer is whatever vaccine is available. While it's easy to get caught up with the headlining efficacy numbers, the fact is that it's virtually impossible to compare the vaccines in an apples-to-apples sense, given that the clinical trials were not identical. For example, the definition of "mild" vs "severe" disease can vary, and some trials required regular blood draws to test for asymptomatic infections, while others only looked for symptoms. Furthermore, some vaccines were tested against emerging variants of the virus, while others were tested only against the "classic" version. Demographics varied wildly as well, with South African testing having to deal with the country's high HIV+ rate. While all the approved vaccines are effective, don't get too hung up on the efficacy numbers.
Given all that, however, there is one comparison that can be made. In all cases, the vaccines were 100% effective against death, and anywhere from 85%-100% effective against disease requiring hospitalization. All these vaccines meet established standards for efficacy against infection, and all of them virtually eliminate the chance of hospitalization or death. Even if you do get infected, you will be protected from the worst outcomes. If nothing else, that alone can turn COVID-19 from a public health crisis into just another bug. Do not hesitate to get any vaccine available to you, as soon as it is available.
===Mortality risk===
Most people whom SARS-CoV-2 infects survive. On Aug 4, 2020, the WHO epidemiologist said that several studies estimate COVID-19’s mortality rate at 0.6%,Bloomberg with other estimates ranging from 0.16% to 4.9%.Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mortality Rate, Worldometer. The variability in death rates has been attributed to the availability of care facilities, which in Wuhan, with a death rate of 4.9%, were particularly overtaxed. This compares with the seasonal-flu death-rate of 0.1%.How Does the Coronavirus Compare With the Flu? As new cases appear on the West Coast, some — including the president — are comparing it to the seasonal flu. Here's a close look at the differences. by Denise Grady (Published Feb. 29, 2020; Updated March 3, 2020, 8:07 a.m. ET) The New York Times. Whilst the mortality rates of COVID-19 are less than those of the 14th-century Black Death and the 1918 influenza, they may still make COVID-19 the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century. Because the virus is highly infectious, the total number of deaths is likely to be quite high
The fatality risk is higher in senior citizens, people who don’t have access to quality healthcare, and amongst people with certain comorbidities (e.g. cardiovascular disease, immunocompromised conditions like AIDS; diabetes, respiratory illnesses, hypertension, and cancer).Coronavirus: What are the chances of dying? by Robert Cuffe, BBC News, 2020 March 24 While these people still have at least a 75% chance of survival if infected,Age, Sex, Existing Conditions of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths, Worldometer they and their loved ones should take extra care to reduce the risk of infection.
Hospital systems become overwhelmed when certain groups don't take the virus seriously. Access for other medical emergencies and quality of care suffer. Despite the disease SARS (c. 2002)—caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1–having a much higher mortality rate, COVID-19 has killed significantly more people, and since it does not kill as many of its (sometimes asymptomatic) hosts enables it to spread further.
"You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus" by James Hamblin, The Atlantic, 2020 February 24.
Those who do die undergo a bleak journey, where the virus eats away one's ability to breathe in stages that care staff are increasingly powerless to treat—if one does get to a hospital. The vaccinated who are hospitalised tend to only reach the first stage. Beyond that stage, one's prospects grow ever dimmer."Op-Ed: On the front lines, here’s what the seven stages of severe COVID-19 look like" by Karen Gallardo (Aug 26, 2021) Los Angeles Times.
==Causation myths==
===Unscientific 5G fears===
Some people, like conspiracy nutcase Kerry Cassidy, believe that 5G radiation causes coronavirus. These people understand neither radiation nor viruses.
Only some forms of radiation are dangerous. "Ionizing" radiation (which is dangerous) is high-energy with a wavelength so short it can disrupt electrons and break molecular bonds. Exposure to this radiation is dangerous because it can break apart molecules and DNA. "Non-ionizing" radiation has a long wavelength, and unlike base-station radios or microwave ovens, cell phones have a very low transmission power of less than a watt, so it can't disrupt anything. 5G is also non-ionizing, with a wavelength comparable to microwaves and radio stations.No, 5G Radiation Doesn't Spread The Coronavirus. Here's How We Know - Science Alert
Needless to say, there's no scientific backing for such 5G hysteria. Areas with high infection rates aren't clustered in areas that have 5G,Kerry Cassidy has a theory - The Emoluments of Mars and people on cruises without 5G have also fallen ill. Germs are the problem here, not invisible waves. Germs don't propagate via radiation. In fact, with certain forms of radiation — intense UVC-spectrum ultraviolet light, a form of ionizing radiation — you actually can destroy all viruses exposed to the radiation and achieve sterility.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."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 
Setting fire to 5G towers (as apparently has happened in at least 50 cases as of April 21, 2020)Conspiracy theorists burn 5G towers falsely claiming link to virus by Kelvin Chan et al. (Updated 10:53 am PDT, Tuesday, April 21, 2020) San Francisco Chronicle. will cure nothing. However, it might get you arrested for arson and sent to prison where you could breathe the same air as infected inmates.The Marshall Project (February 5, 2021). "A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons". Accessed February 9, 2021. Harassing poor telecom technicians won't help stop COVID-19 either."Burning Cell Towers, Out of Baseless Fear They Spread the Virus" By Adam Satariano and Davey Alba, New York Times, 2020 April 10 Celebrities spreading anti-5G nonsense don't know what they're talking about, either."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
===Eating bats===
In January 2020, a viral video showing a young Chinese woman eating a whole bat with chopsticks quickly spread across social media. In reporting on this video, the Daily Mail (naturally) called it "revolting footage" while winking and nudging that "scientists link the deadly coronavirus to the flying mammals"."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 The problem is, the video in question (filmed in 2016, several years before the virus outbreak even began) was regarding travel blogger Wang Mengyun eating a bat in a Pacific Island nation where bat-oriented cuisine is common."Don’t Blame Bat Soup for the Wuhan Virus" by James Palmer, Foreign Policy, 2020 January 27"Bat soup in Palau is pretty intense" by Master Blaster, SoraNews24 Sadly, Wang received racist hate mail and even death threats."Chinese influencer Wang Mengyun, aka ‘Bat soup girl’ breaks silence" by Marnie O'Neill, News.com.au, 2020 February 7 Yet the Daily Mail and their culinarily stunted audience pays 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 virus' bat-to-human jump."'This is not the bat’s fault': A disease expert explains where the coronavirus likely comes from" Vox ' There are many ways for zoonotic transmission to occur – transmission is complex with many variables. The virus may have an intermediate host between bat and human, but scientists aren't too sure.
===Claims that the virus was engineered===
The scientific consensus "overwhelmingly conclude(s) that this coronavirus originated in wildlife.""Scientists 'strongly condemn' rumors and conspiracy theories about origin of coronavirus outbreak" by Jon Cohen, Science, 2020 February 19 Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 shows that it shares about 96% of its RNA with an RaTG13 coronavirus strain found in a bat, and has mutations that are less likely to have been the byproduct of artificial selection; the scientific consensus continues to be that an animal is the most likely source of SARS-CoV-2.Andersen, K., Rambaut, A., Lipkin, W., Holmes, E., & Garry, R. (2020). The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2. Retrieved 12 March 2020, from http://virological.org/t/the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2/398The coronavirus was not engineered in a lab. Here's how we know. by Jeanna Bryner (March 21, 2020)Live ScienceHow 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 InsiderIs the new coronavirus man-made or just a result of evolution? (May 02, 2020 20:34:14 IST)First PostThe new coronavirus was not man-made, study shows by Ana Sandoiu (March 20, 2020)Was the New Coronavirus Accidentally Released from a Wuhan Lab? by 
MICHAEL ABRAMOWICZ (5.6.2020 4:47 PM)reason The death rate of SARS-CoV-2 is 2%, and it's estimated that an average infected human can infect two and a half humans,How Does the New Coronavirus Compare with the Flu? by Rachael Rettner, Scientific American 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?"Japan government says another two officials infected with coronavirus, confirms two deaths" Reuters"Iran's vice president and two ministers stricken by coronavirus" Aljazeera"Staffer in U.S. senator's office tests positive for coronavirus" Reuters At least with this conspiracy, it is somewhat realistic and would operate within the laws of physics, unlike the other conspiracies.
Naturally, when conspiracy theorists are confronted about 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. It didn't help that Nobel-Prize-winner-turned-nutcase Luc Montagnier‎‎ claimed that the virus was semi-synthetic based on genetic data analysis of the study.COVID-19, SARS and Bats Coronaviruses Genomes Peculiar Homologous RNA Sequences by Jean Claude Perez & Luc Montagnier (2020) International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH 8(7):217–263. doi:10.29121/granthaalayah.v8.i7.2020.678. The claim was quickly refuted by another analysis.The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2 by Kristian G. Andersen et al. (2020) Nature Medicine 26:450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9.French Nobel prize winner: ‘Covid-19 was made in lab’: A controversial French Nobel prize-winning scientist has accused biologists of having created SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes Covid-19 - in a lab, but the wider scientific community has so far refuted the claim (3 March 2021 13:55) The Connexion. One study explicitly refuted the plausibility of laboratory origin due to similarities to recently evolved zoological versions of coronavirus.The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2 by Kristian G. Andersen et al. (2020) Nature Medicine 26:450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9.
Yet a minority view is that of taking an accidental lab leak seriously. In this view, the virus was not a terrifying weapon, likely not engineered at all but just stored, though it could possibly have been of interest to the research and development of weapons. For example, one author of the "Proximal Origins" paper, Kristian Andersen, has claimed that a lab leak origin is "highly likely.""House Republicans Accidentally Released a Trove of Damning Covid Documents ", The Intercept, 2023-07-12 While "highly likely" is at odds with the general consensus, it's also true that the evidence does not allow conclusively ruling out a lab origin. However, as other researchers behind the paper point out, neither is there evidence anywhere near strong enough to base accusations on."Scientists, Under Fire From Republicans, Defend Fauci and Covid Origins Study", The New York Times, 2023-07-12 But that hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists from making wilder claims and pointing fingers in a variety of directions.
====Blaming Chinese scientists====
Early indications during the pandemic showed that the first cluster of viruses may have originated from a "" in Wuhan."Why They're Called 'Wet Markets' — And What Health Risks They Might Pose" by Jason Beaubien, NPR, 2020 January 31 In a pre-print paper that was quickly withdrawn after appearing on , Chinese scientists Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao proposed that the virus might have actually come from either the Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, both of which are near the wet market in question."The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus" by Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao, February 2020, archived at archive.org on 14 February 2020 Always willing to spread bullshit on anything health related, the "story" was picked up by the Daily Mail with the usual alarmist headline."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 Even the couldn't help JAQing off on the subject as well."Coronavirus may have actually started in secret Wuhan lab just 280m from wet market" by Tiffany Lo, Daily Mirror, 2020 February 16 On US shores, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) repeated this bullshit on Fox News and subsequently accused the Chinese government of lying about COVID-19."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
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 together some criteria for narrowing down who "created" the virus from a job posting on the Wuhan Institution of Virology's website. Using these random criteria, they focused 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 fucking course they would."Is This The Man Behind The Global Coronavirus Pandemic?" by "Tyler Durden", Zero Hedge, 2020 January 29 This was enough to get them permanently suspended from Twitter."Zero Hedge Permanently Suspended From Twitter for ‘Harassment’" by Siraj Datoo, Bloomberg, 2020 January 31
Why did Zero Hedge think the virus came from Canada? Because of yet another bullshit rumor: in July 2019, virologist Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, her husband, and some of her students from China were removed from Canada's 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"."China coronavirus: Misinformation spreads online about origin and scale" by BBC Monitoring, BBC News, 2020 January 30
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 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 from Wuhan)."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
On February 24, 2020, Rush Limbaugh repeated the bullshit that COVID-19 was a weaponized "ChiCom laboratory experiment" on his radio program. Unusually for a crank, he actually downplayed the risks, actually reporting the correct approximate survival rate right of 98% (the mortality rate of COVID-19 on February 24, 2020 was around 2.3%)."Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate" by Stephanie Soucheray, CIDRAP News, 2020 February 24 However, he mistakenly said that this was "a far lower death statistic than any form of influenza" (the mortality rate of influenza in the United States is usually 0.1%)."How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu?" by Rachael Rettner, Livescience.com, 2020 February 19 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"."Overhyped Coronavirus Weaponized Against Trump", RushLimbaugh.com, 24 February 2020, archived on 25 February 25 
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"."How Trump and his Fox News allies are infecting the public trust amid coronavirus concerns" by Oliver Darcy, CNN Business, 2020 February 28 This is ironic coming from a cable news network notorious for exploiting fear."How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory" by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2011 May 25
In fact, FOX news has spread so much bullshit from its relatively prominent media position downplaying the virus to the point where network insiders privately worry that should a strong connection be made between Fox News disinformation and deaths, they could be sued and held liable."Fox News Is Preparing to Be Sued Over Coronavirus Misinformation" by Caleb Ecarma, Vanity Fair, 2020 April 6
====Blaming Bill Gates====
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a charity 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 . 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 (after the Ebola outbreak) that the world would not be ready should a large-scale pandemic occur."The next outbreak? We're not ready" by Bill Gates, Ted.com, March 2015 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has actively led efforts to fight COVID-19, and spending$100 million $250 million $300 million in funding to do this."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"Bill Gates hikes coronavirus contribution after bashing Trump for defunding WHO" by Quint Forgey, Politico, 2020 April 16"Bill Gates’s efforts to fight coronavirus, explained" by Kelsey Piper, Vox.com, 2020 May 4 Unfortunately, it became a major target of the conspiracy industrial complex over the months that the disease progressed. Gates' strong links with world health programs, as well as his vocal opposition to Trump's policies (like Trump's slowass response to the virus and cutting funding for the in the middle of the pandemic) have triggered the conspiracy industrial complex to actually accuse Bill Gates of 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, had been a target of those who embrace depopulation conspiracy theories, particularly among those who embrace the anti-vaccination movement."Did Bill Gates ‘Admit’ Vaccinations Are Designed So Governments Can ‘Depopulate’ the World?" by Alex Kasprak, Snopes, 2017 March 10 Conspiracy theorists have naturally combined the two into the notion that Bill Gates created the virus to cull or survey the global population."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
An example of the strange thought process involved here came early during the outbreak from, as always, the depths of QAnon. Prominent QAnut YouTuber Jordan Sather mistakenly thought a patent for an vaccine,"US Patent for Coronavirus Patent (Patent # 10,130,701)", Patents.Justia.com, 2015 Jul 23 created by farm animal infectious disease research institution was actually a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine. Because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded some of the institute's other research, Sather connected the two, leading to the rumor that Gates created the virus, a theory which soon spread like wildfire across conspiracy blogs."QAnon Supporters And Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading A Hoax That Bill Gates Created The Coronavirus" by Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed News, 2020 January 23
Naturally, the conspiracy metamorphosed to the point where Bill Gates completely owned the "patent on coronavirus". In a Natural News article, the chicken coronavirus vaccine patent strangely 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." (Naturally, this is just another article from Natural News designed to happily sell paranoid useless dietary supplements).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). 
Another example came due to Gates' participation in a high-level pandemic exercise called Event 201, which was sponsored by the in October 2019.Event 201 homepage, John Hopkins Center for Health Security 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 (and ungrammatical) headlines like "BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION & OTHERS PREDICTED UP TO 65 MILLION DEATHS VIA CORONAVIRUS — IN SIMULATION RAN 3 MONTHS AGO!". This naturally means, according to Infowars, that Gates is one of the "globalists who own the patent to the virus and predicted its rise". These "globalists", according to Infowars, are intentionally spreading the disease "so groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can step in and become saviors". Naturally, 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 sell useless dietary supplements; it is uncertain how wise Infowars readers are to this.)"New Coronavirus Wasn’t ‘Predicted’ In Simulation" by Angelo Fichera, FactCheck.org, 2020 January 29"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 
Since then, Bill Gates-oriented conspiracy theories have frequently appeared on Infowars."Alex Jones' unhinged conspiracy theories about Bill Gates and the coronavirus" by Timothy Johnson, Media Matters, 2020 April 5 Infowars' unhinged conspiratorial rants include comparing the (false) population control theory to Nazi eugenics"The Nazi Origins of a Bill Gates backed shutdown", Infowars.com, 27 April 2020, archive on 28 Apr 2020 and describing a (bogus) initiative from Gates to "vaccinate and microchip every human being on Earth in the name of combating the coronavirus pandemic". (Naturally, 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!)"Bill Gates' Plan to Chip the World Explained", Infowars.com, 2020 May 18
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 believed that Bill Gates was plotting to use a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign to implant microchips in billions of people and monitor their movements. Only 26 percent of Republicans were able to identify this story as false."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 There is concern that this widespread belief in conspiracies 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 from 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,Sara Cunial Facebook, post on 2020 May 14, archived on 2020 May 19 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." A small protest against 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."Facebook And YouTube Have Allowed Conspiracy Theorists To Turn Bill Gates Into The Pandemic's Villain" by Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed News, 2020 May 22"Is Italy Calling for Bill Gates' Arrest?" by Dan Evon, Snopes, 2020 May 18
===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 (naturally) and Communism in China:Coronavirus Conservapedia (archived from March 10, 2020).
The article on Conservapedia was written mainly by :Conservapedia:RobSmith.Revision history of "Coronavirus" Conservapedia (archived from March 10, 2020). The section on Mosaic law and atheophobia was apparently approved by Andrew Schlafly.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).
===In a nutshell===
Depending on whichever conspiracy you want to believe in, the bullshit theories are...
*Coronavirus is an American biological weapon
*Coronavirus is a Chinese chemical weapon
*COVID-19 is caused by 5G towers
*It's all planned by Bill Gates to sell you vaccines
*The vaccines are designed by Bill Gates to put microchips in your bloodstream
*The virus isn’t real
*It's just the flu
*The virus is designed to make the masses obey the government
*The virus is actually good for you – that's why governments try to stop it!
*The virus was made to kill off the elderly and/or the poor
*The virus was made to make the rich richer and the poor poorer
*Doctors have been silenced when trying to tell people that the virus is fake
*There is a New World Order as a result of COVID-19
*It's all a plandemic
==Conspiracy theories, paranoia and the blame game==
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 being the first celebrity with COVID-19 (parodying Eminem lyrics in the process),"Was Eminem Diagnosed with Coronavirus?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.com, February 7 2020 satirical warnings not to pop bubble wrap,"Can Popping Bubble Wrap from China Expose You to Coronavirus?" by David Mikkelson, Snopes.com, 2020 February 12 and "realistic" conspiracy-oriented horror fiction about COVID-19 cover-ups posted on Reddit"Did a Chinese Intelligence Officer Reveal the ‘Truth About the Coronavirus Outbreak’?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.Com, 2020 February 20 got misrepresented as factual. YouTube, despite ostensibly removing posts with medical misinformation, has seen COVID-19 conspiracy-oriented media flourish and thrive."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
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"Mikki Willis,Biography, IMDB, archived on 2020 May 11 but has promoted conspiracy-oriented material in the past)"PolitiFact: Fact-checking ‘Plandemic,’ a documentary full of false conspiracy theories on the coronavirus", Tampa Bay Times, the film focuses on former researcher 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.)"The anti-vaxx agenda of 'Plandemic'" by Derek Beres, Big Think, 2020 May 06"Who is Judy Mikovits in ‘Plandemic,’ the coronavirus conspiracy video just banned from social media?" by Katie Shepherd, Washington Post, 2020 May 8 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"Seen 'Plandemic'? We Take A Close Look At The Viral Conspiracy Video's Claims" by Scott Neuman, NPR, 2020 May 8 and "If Someone Shares the ‘Plandemic’ Video, How Should You Respond?" by Joe Pinsker, theatlantic.com, 2020 May 9 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 and funding terrorists in order to carve out pieces of land for itself). 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."Coronavirus: Russia denies spreading US conspiracy on social media. BBC, 23 February 2020. This behavior is unsurprising, as Russian bots were previously identified as spreading vaccine hysteria in the United States, and KGB coordinated a misinformation campaign in the 1980s that American scientists were responsible for creating the AIDS virus.Jessica Glenza, Coronavirus: US says Russia behind disinformation campaign, The Guardian, 22 February 2020.Malaka Gharib, Fake Facts Are Flying About Coronavirus. Now There's A Plan To Debunk Them. NPR, 21 February 2020.
The disinformation was not limited to just social media. For instance, early in February, the World Population Project at the 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"."Coronavirus: How a misleading map went global" by Reality Check team, BBC News, 2020 February 19
===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."Does Video Show Guns, Violence in Aftermath of Coronavirus Outbreak in China?" by Dan Evon, Snopes.com, 2020 February 14
* 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.""Latest news re Coronavirus" Project Camelot, 20 February 2020, archived on 22 February 2020 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""Coronavirus in China: 23 Million QUARANTINED, 2.8 Million Infected; 112,000 DEAD", Hal Turner News Desk, archived on 2020 February 13. 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.)Worldometer, COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak, archived on 2020 February 13 Other bullshit statements include claims that the dead are "being taken directly to incinerators" to be burned, that the virus is different than 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 .
* 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.Steve Bannon Is Behind Bogus Study That China Created COVID by Adam Rawnsley and Lachlan Markay. September 15, 2020
===Vaccine misinformation===
Naturally, the worldwide rollout of vaccines have sparked the ire of one of the most common of conspiracy theories: the anti-vaxxers. Arguments put forward against the safety of the vaccines include:
* The overblown increased risk of heart inflammation (or myocarditis) as a side effect. For example, a US DoD study of vaccinated male military service members found 23 cases of myocarditis unattributable to infectious, ischemic, or autoimmune causes, whereas only 8 or less were anticipated.Montgomery, J., et al. Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Members of the US Military, JAMA Cardiology. June 29, 2021.Kime, Patricia. DoD Confirms: Rare Heart Inflammation Cases Linked to COVID-19 Vaccines, Military.com. While this may initially seem alarming, the study mentions that this is against the background of roughly 436,000 male service members who have received their second vaccine, meaning the difference in odds of having heart inflammation is 0.0018% to 0.0046%. The study also mentions that for most diagnosed with myocarditis, symptoms generally resolved within a week.
==Snake oil==
When a new disease emerges, scammers are guaranteed to offer you bullshit cures that will "protect" you from COVID-19, and, in fact, every disease known to man. The only thing these treatments cure is your wallet of pecunitis (money disease).
Even in 2024, Kash Patel (the QAnon-promoting Trump henchman/lawyer/potential FBI director)How Kash Patel, Trump’s FBI Pick, Embraced the Unhinged QAnon Movement by David Corn (December 1, 2024) Mother Jones. was promoting snake oil to eliminate but never totally remove spike proteins from one's system so keep buy the products forever) in the form of three alternative-medicine products from Warrior Essentials.Spike the Vax, order this homerun kit to rid your body of the harms of the vax. Huge discount now by ordering via link below: mywarrioressentials.com/… by Kash Patel (Feb 27, 2024, 4:56 PM) Truth Social (archived from 2 Dec 2024 00:12:55 UTC).Undo The Damage From The Spike Protein Warrior Essentials (archived from December 2, 2024).
===Colloidal silver===
Colloidal silver has long been promoted as a cure for every known disease (despite the fact that the only proven effect of ingesting silver is , e.g. you may look like a or Na'vi)."Colloidal Silver: Risk Without Benefit" by Stephen Barrett, M.D., Quackwatch Naturally, many people started hawking colloidal silver as a bullshit cure for COVID-19 shortly after the pandemic began, despite it being as effective as repairing Hiroshima with Band-Aids."Colloidal silver has not been shown effective against new virus from China" by Beatrice Dupuy, AP News, 2020 February 14
Disgraced evangelical preacher Jim Bakker has pushed "Optivida Silver Solution", a colloidal silver formulation,Silver Liquid - 10ppm Optivida Health (archived from February 22, 2020). for some time as a cure for every known disease."Bakker Still Sells Gel That He Says Cures Venereal Diseases (“All of Them!”)" by Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, 2019 August 17 In February 2020, he started pushing his silver solution as something that "totally eliminated, deactivated" "the coronavirus"."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 In March 2020, Bakker was sued by the state of Missouri for peddling fake Coronavirus cures on his TV show.Matthew S. Schwartz, Missouri Sues Televangelist Jim Bakker For Selling Fake Coronavirus Cure. NPR, 11 March 2020. The New York Attorney General followed suit, ordering Bakker to cease peddling this bullshit,NY AG hits Jim Bakker with cease-and-desist order over alleged coronavirus cure. MSN, 9 March 2020. and the United States Food and Drug Administration followed up with warnings to Bakker for selling these unapproved cures.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.
Shortly after Bakker got his warning to cease and desist making unproven claims about colloidal silver, Alex Jones and his website Infowars also received cease-and-desist letters, for they were also selling colloidal silver.Warning Letter: Free Speech Systems LLC d.b.a. Infowars.com MARCS-CMS 605802 (April 09, 2020) U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
FDA warns Alex Jones to stop pitching bogus virus remedies by Matthew Perrone (April 10, 2020) AP.
===Chlorine dioxide bleach===
In recent years, chloride dioxide bleach Miracle Mineral Supplement has emerged (largely thanks to the efforts of quack doctor Jim Humble) as yet another substance that cures every known disease. Naturally, some people decided that these quack "cures" also extended to COVID-19. (It is true that if you die from bleach poisoning, there will be nothing to worry about from SARS-CoV-2. Of course, you won't be capable of worrying about anything.)
The first major MMS promotion came from the bowels of QAnon. After Jordan Sather blamed Bill Gates for COVID-19, he 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 snake oil spreading among those receptive to the conspiracy theory that Gates created SARS-CoV-2. Other prominent QAnuts also tweeted in support.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. 
Tragically, Bolivia's Senate fully embraced MMS in July 2020, officially endorsing it as a "treatment" for COVID-19, despite medical warnings from Bolivia's own goddamn health ministry."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 Bolivia's lower house of parliament followed up by approving the "solution" in August 2020."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 The Senate majority leader threatened to leave the if the WHO continued to warn people that drinking bleach is a really, really bad idea."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 Meanwhile, in neighboring 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 bad for one's health, that they sent a public letter to President demanding his resignation."Catholic bishops want resignation of health minister, ask for approval of anti-viral treatment", Cuenca High Life, 2020 Jul 14"Obispos solicitan la renuncia del Ministro de Salud", Ecuavisa, 2020 9 Jul
===Pitching supplements with paranoia===
Hucksters who scam money from their marks by frightening people into purchasing their supplements and survivalism products naturally saw dollar signs when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.
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, launched a separate site called "Pandemic News""Pandemic News", archived on 2020 February 11 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 (allegedly) "rigged" official infected and death counts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and another for the (allegedly) "realistic" infected and death counts of the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring numbers that they pulled out of their anuses.Naturalnews.com, archived on 2020 February 18 Among their bullshit suggestions are articles that COVID-19 can be treated by "intravenous vitamin C""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 and "all-natural oxygen therapy"."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
Infowars, as usual looking to direct the paranoid and conspiratorial into the arms of their profitable supplements businesses, have also increased their marketing efforts to 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 societal collapse."Alex Jones’ Infowars is attempting to profit from the coronavirus outbreak" by Timothy Johnson, Media Matters, 2020 February 29 
Naturally, scams that exploited the paranoid also abounded. One example was a site 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). Reportedly this supplement 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"."Pandemic Survival: How to Survive the Outbreak", PDF, page 74 While the PDF file is available for free, the people behind "Pandemic Survival" set up several emails and 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."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
===Herbal and traditional medicine===
During the pandemic, several countries turned to herbal and traditional medicine to try to cure COVID-19... despite 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 used a formula called "shuanghuanglian" (invented, as traditionally as you'd expect, in the '60s) to combat the virus. Made of honeysuckle, Chinese skullcap, and forsythia, the formula quickly sold out across the country, despite the fact that (in keeping with how most traditional Chinese medicine doesn't really work that well) there's no evidence that this formula does anything for COVID-19."Chinese Media Is Selling Snake Oil to Fight the Wuhan Virus" by James Palmer, ForeignPolicy, 2020 February 3 A drug called Kaletra (a.k.a., used to treat HIV/AIDS) was also in high demand, despite the fact that there is no evidence that this could help treat COVID-19 either."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
India actually issued a government notice"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 detailing approved ayurvedic and homeopathic methods for "prevention of coronavirus infections". There is no evidence that any of this did a thing for COVID-19 beyond being a placebo."Indian Authorities Propose Use of Homeopathy to Prevent Coronavirus" by Alakananda Dasgupta, TheScientist, 2020 February 7
Meanwhile, President of has promoted an herbal tea based on sweet wormwood () as a cure for COVID-19; there is no evidence that this plant does anything of the sort."Madagascar’s president promotes unproven herbal cure for COVID-19" by Malavika Vyawahare, Mongabay, 2020 April 20 However, that hasn't stopped other leaders, like 's president , from touting this snake oil. "Coronavirus: Tanzanian president promises to import Madagascar's 'cure'", BBC News, 2020 May 4
In Iran, prominent clerics promoted bullshit quack "cures", like cotton wool drenched in violet oil and inserted into one's anus, or the "Prophet's Perfume" — which in a social media video, one cleric named Morteza Kohansal went around dabbing on 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 relied on herbal remedies have succumbed to the disease, and one patient in Kohansal's "Prophet's Perfume" video also died from the disease."Desperate Iranians are getting bad medical advice: Perfumes and fruit juice are not a cure for covid-19", Economist, 2020 April 18"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
===Cannabis and CBD===
Various companies and people have been promoting cannabis and CBD for COVID cures and/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 are:
*"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 COVID-19 treatments.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.
*Peter Jonathan Hanna, a member of a Unification Church sect called ("World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church") and a QAnut/survivalist,Peter Jonathan Hanna Twitter (archived from 21 Apr 2020 04:32:22 UTC). has promoted cannabis as a cure for COVID.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). Hanna also claims that his family has had the coronavirus.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).COVID, Cannabis, and Quacks: No, Weed Does Not Cure the Virus by Dan Mitchell (April 15, 2020) East Bay Express.
*Kyle Turley, ex-football player and cannabis company owner, has claimed that "cannabis will prevent and cure" COVID-19.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).
===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"."Was This ‘Health Bulletin’ an Accurate Coronavirus Warning?" by Dan Macguill, Snopes.com, 2020 January 31
* Chiropractors pretend that if you pay them lots of money, they can then manipulate your spine and give you supplements to both prevent and cure COVID-19.Chiropractors falsely claim they can protect patients from coronavirus by Jann Bellamy, Science Based Medicine, 2020 March 12
*In New Zealand, the Destiny Church, a fundamentalist religious cult built around 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".Coronavirus: Brian Tamaki blames Satanic airborne demons, drinking of bat's blood by John Weekes (16:20, Mar 01 2020) Stuff New Zealand. 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, naturally.
===Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine… Doctor Trump===
A 2023 study of conservative vs. moderate and liberal physician behavior published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that conservative doctors were more likely to reject standard medical care for COVID and also more likely to recommend discredited treatments like and hydroxychloroquine.Conservative doctors were more likely to see hydroxychloroquine as effective by Philip Bump (February 6, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.
====Chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine====
"Doctor" Trump himself recommended taking experimental drugs (specifically hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin)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). because, in his own words:
Trump's own handpicked expert on COVID, Dr. Anthony Fauci, strongly disagreed with Trump that these drugs should be used by the general public. When asked by a reporter, Fauci replied:
Obviously, 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.Case Studies in Toxicology: Somehow… It's Always Lupus by Shannon Rickner & Lewis S. Nelson (2016) Emergency Medicine 48(11):493-495. Hydroxychloroquine also suppresses the immune system,Treating Lupus with Anti-Malarial Drugs Johns Hopkins Lupus Center. potentially making a COVID infection worse. "What do you have to lose?", said Trump.'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.
The question should actually 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.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. In the big scheme of Trump's finances, his own personal investment in hydroxychloroquine manufacture is miniscule,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. 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/chloroquineCardiac 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. and azithromycinAzithromycin 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.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. with adverse cardiac events. This is another reason not to self-medicate with these drugs. 
Only a day after Trump's stupid recommendation, two cases of chloroquine poisonings from self-medication were reported in Nigeria; health workers in Nigeria (and elsewhere) had to warn Nigerians against self-medication.Nigeria Has Chloroquine Poisonings After Trump Praised Drug by Alonso Soto (March 21, 2020, 7:51 AM PDT) Bloomberg. On March 23, 2020, it was announced that an American man died and that his wife was in critical condition after both ingested "chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used in aquariums to clean fish tanks."Banner Health experts warn against self-medicating to prevent or treat COVID-19 (March 23, 2020) Banner Health. 
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. However, it's effective in the treatment of a few diseases, including lupus, amebiasis and rheumatic disease. Due to Trump's shitty promotion of chloroquine, US stocks of chloroquine were nearly exhausted in under a week, likely causing severe medical consequences for patients who relied on it.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. 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 said diseases.
Quack Doctor Mehmet Oz announced on Fox News that he was testing this drug cocktail, and was immediately repudiated on Fox by US Surgeon General Jerome Adams (a Trump appointee no less).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.
The researcher behind this shitshow was , who besides publishing a shitty paper on hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (non-randomized, no true control group, bad ethical practice, confounding factors, missing patients from the analysis, as well as dubious peer review) in the publication International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (IJAA), has also been caught falsifying data in the past.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.Chloroquine genius Didier Raoult to save the world from COVID-19 by Leonid Schneider (March 26, 2020) For Better Science.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.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.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. Raoult has cast doubt on randomized trials generally, as well as on the value of scientific consensus. Incidentally, Raoult has also broadened his 'research' by denying climate changeLes 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. and Darwinian evolution (and its Modern Synthesis).Dépasser Darwin by Didier Raoult (2010) Plon. ISBN 2259211143. In 2024, Raoult finally got a comeuppance. The Elsevier journal New Microbes and New Infections posted a "stunning 101 expressions of concern on studies connected to Didier Raoult.101 studies flagged as bogus COVID cure pusher sees career unravel: It's a past-due reckoning for French microbiologist Didier Raoult, critics say. by Beth Mole (4/4/2024, 10:05 AM) Ars Technica.Embattled researcher Didier Raoult earns more than 100 expressions of concern and another retraction by Adam Marcus (April 3, 2024) Retraction Watch.
Two of the IJAA article's co-authors are Raoult and Jean Marc Rolain. Rolain is the editor-in-chief of IJAAInternational Journal of Antimicrobial Agents: Official journal of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (archived from March 23, 2020). and Rolain is a subordinate of Raoult at the Due to the editor-in-chief being a co-editor, the peer review process was passed on to an unnamed associate editor,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 3rd-2020) International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (archived from April 6, 2020). which actually adhered to peer review rules, though the 1-day turnaround time was still suspicious. 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:Hydroxychloroquine-COVID-19 study did not meet publishing society's "expected standard" by Adam Marcus (April 6, 2020) Retraction Watch.
In 2024, this article was belatedly retracted by Elsevier with the explanation:RETRACTED: Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial 'ScienceDirect.Journal retracts study that promoted hydroxychloroquine as Covid treatment: Paper published in International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents in 2020 withdrawn by Dutch publisher Elsevier by Maya Yang (18 Dec 2024 16.25 EST) The Guardian.
That said, there is in vitro (that is, in a petri dish) evidence that chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine is effective at inhibiting SARS-CoV-2,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. 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 SARS-CoV-2 viruses that enter. 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, or 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.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. Notably, the FDA letter "did not cite specific studies or evidence the FDA used to support the decision."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.
On the very same day that Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, started touting hydroxychloroquine,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. Sweden terminated a medical trial for the drug due to severe side effects (like seizures and visual impairment).Carl, 40, fick kramp och syn- problem av "coronamedicin" (4 apr 2020 kl 21.03) Expressen.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).
Trump's fixation on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine reportedly diverted already scarce expertise into what was likely a wild goose chase.Trump's push for risky malaria drugs disrupted the 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. Trump's fixation was apparently initiated after a phone call with major campaign donor and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
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.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. 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. 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, he was taking hydroxychloroquine (along with a zinc supplement) in an attempt to ward off the virus (in spite of the above noted health concerns)."Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine though health experts question its effectiveness" by By Nikki Carvajal and Kevin Liptak, CNN, 2020 May 19"Trump's physician explains hydroxychloroquine decision" by Rebecca Falconer and Ursula Perano, Axios, 2020 May 19 Even Fox News host () 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.""Alarm and Confusion at Fox News as Trump Says He Takes Hydroxychloroquine" by Robert Mackey, The Intercept, 2020 May 19
In 2022, Dr. Jennings Ryan Staley of California was convicted of, among other things, promoting a hydroxychloroquine 'miracle cure' during the height of the pandemic before vaccines were available.A doctor claimed he had a ‘miracle cure’ for covid. He’s going to prison. by Jaclyn Peiser (May 31, 2022 at 5:17 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
Naturally, hydroxychloroquine did not prevent people from being infected with COVID-19.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.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. Does that mean that the hydroxychloroquine didn't have any effects on the pandemic? Well, no. A study found that HCQ use was associated with an 11% increase in the mortality rate in a meta-analysis of randomized trials and that 17 thousand deaths in six countries were related to hydroxychloroquine.
====Disinfectants and ultraviolet====
Meanwhile, on April 23, 2020, during a presentation, after learning that surface cleaners like bleach or might be effective at killing the virus, Trump shared the depths of his medical expertise by wondering if COVID-19 could be killed by injecting said 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.""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"Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment", BBC, 2020 April 24 Medical doctors reacted by calling Trump's statements "irresponsible", "extremely dangerous", and "frightening". Major manufacturers of disinfectants, like (manufacturers of and )"Lysol maker issues warning against injections of disinfectant after Trump comments" by Marina Pitofsky, The Hill, 2020 April 24 and "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 rushed to put out press releases and social media posts, reminding everyone that following Trump's advice would be unwise. 
Fringe fans of Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS), rejoiced, feeling that the president provided all the evidence they needed that ingesting bleach would cure everything. (As chlorine dioxide bleach also is toxic to ingest, following the advice of MMSers is unwise as well.)"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 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".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. (The 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.)"US orders group to stop selling bleach 'miracle cure' for coronavirus" by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, 2020 April 21
====Oleandrin====
In August 2020, a few prominent Republicans (like 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, and in 2020 was known for providing heavy advertising support for far-right Fox News hosts, like Fucker Carlson"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 and Laura Ingraham,"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 that have become too toxic for mainstream companies to advertise with) started pitching a toxic chemical found in the plant (Nerium oleander), to Trump as a cure for COVID-19. (Naturally, the pitch has an element of self-interest involved, as Lindell has a stake in a company developing oleandrin extracts called Phoenix Biotechnology.)"4 facts about oleandrin, an unproven coronavirus treatment reportedly pitched to Trump" by Nicole Lyn Pesce, Marketwatch, 2020 August 18 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. Although there is a preliminary, preprint (non-peer reviewed) study that oleandrin may display some inhibition of SARS-CoV-2,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.] it's a giant leap to go from saying 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."Trump 'enthusiastic' over unproven coronavirus therapeutic, MyPillow creator says" by Betsy Klein, CNN, 2020 August 17 In the meantime, because oleander is a common ornamental plant that is also known to be highly toxic,Largo, Michael. The Big, Bad Book of Botany: The World's Most Fascinating Flora William Morrow Paperbacks, August 5, 2014. Excerpted at Slate.com some in the medical field worried that there would be a chance that people would get the dumb idea to "self-medicate" with this plant."Oleandrin is a deadly plant poison, not a COVID-19 cure" by Cassandra Quave, The Conversation, 2020 August 18 The American Botanical Council (an alternative medicine organization that promotes herbal medicine) 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.""American Botanical Council Warns Consumers about High Toxicity of Oleander" by the American Botanical Council, press release (archived on GlobeNewsWire), 2020 August 18
===Urine===
"Vaccine Police" leader Christopher KeyChristopher Key Twitter (10 Jan 2022 08:54:30 UTC). actually suggested that urine could be a cure for COVID-19, "The antidote that we have seen now, and we have tons and tons of research, is urine therapy". This is despite the fact that urine is actually unhealthy to drink, as it contains bacteria and waste products that the body was trying to get rid of. Key called people who got the vaccine "foolish".Anti-vax leader urges people to drink their urine instead of get vaccine in latest wild conspiracy by Graig Graziosi (2022 January 10) The Independent. To date, there is no actual peer-reviewed study that shows that urine is an effective treatment for COVID-19 — or anything else.
===Ivermectin===
In April 2020, researchers at discovered in a pre-print paper that a common anti-parasitic drug called could kill the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 within 48 hours in a petri dish (in vitro)."Lab experiments show anti-parasitic drug, Ivermectin, eliminates SARS-CoV-2 in cells in 48 hours", Monash University press release, 2020 April 3 The press release cautioned that a successful in vitro experiment said nothing about its suitability for treating COVID-19 in humans. As this drug is commonly used to treat animal diseases such as the FDA rushed out a letter expressing concern that desperate people would take ivermectin regardless of whether or not it actually worked, and were particularly concerned that they would take ivermectin intended for animals, which had not been tested in humans, and thus pose additional dangers."FDA Letter to Stakeholders: Do Not Use Ivermectin Intended for Animals as Treatment for COVID-19 in Humans", product safety information, 2020 April 10 Similar to hydroxychloroquine, by mid 2021, the evidence was not very strong that ivermectin was very effective, with only a few smaller studies showing positive effects and larger, more solid trials tending to produce equivocal evidence at best."Ivermectin As a COVID-19 Therapy" by Derek Lowe, Science Translational Medicine, 2021 June 7
Similarly to hydroxychloroquine, however, this hasn't stopped many people from trying, including political world leaders, from promoting the drug as a cure for COVID-19 to various degrees. Latin American politicians embraced the drug, with it being recommended by governments in Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (albeit with Peru and Bolivia acknowledging that the evidence that the drug worked against COVID-19 was slim)."Latin America’s embrace of an unproven COVID treatment is hindering drug trials" by Emiliano Rodriguez Mega, Nature, 2020 October 20 Far from helping out the situation, however, there is evidence that Peru's use of ivermectin (along with chlorine dioxide or bleach, anticoagulants, and other forms of snake oil) may have actually increased pandemic deaths.Self-medication increases pandemic deaths in Peru by The Economist, 2020 October 3 The Indian states of Goa and Uttarakhand, against the advice of the gave the drug to many of its residents in May 2021, despite a lack of scientific evidence."Indian State Will Offer Ivermectin To Entire Adult Population — Even As WHO Warns Against Its Use As Covid-19 Treatment" by Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 2021 May 11"Indian States Turn to Ivermectin in COVID Crisis" by Kristina Fiore, MedPageToday, 2021 May 18 Ivermectin was part of a cocktail of unproven drugs promoted by Jair Bolsonaro to fight COVID-19; his promotion of pseudoscience and disdain for proven pandemic methods (like lockdowns and facial mask use) led to Brazil having among the highest death rates from COVID-19 in the world in early- to mid-2021."The COVID-19 Pseudoscience Suffocating Brazil" by Kiratiana Freelon and Shanna Hanbury, Medscape, 2021 June 09
In the United States, Senator Ron Johnson led the charge to promote ivermectin as a cure for COVID-19, calling for a hearing in December 2020 to promote the drug."Republican Sen. Ron Johnson touts alternative COVID-19 treatments at hearing" by Associated Press, 2020 December 9 Johnson continued to promote the drug in 2021, appearing at the on June 3 to, among other things, promote ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. After uploading the video from the press club event to YouTube, YouTube responded by suspending Johnson's account for 7 days for promoting medical bullshit."YouTube suspends Ron Johnson for 7 days" by Tal Axelrod, The Hill, 2021 June 11 Bullshit claims regarding ivermectin were echoed throughout June and July 2021 by some of the more noted anti-vaccination and anti-face mask Fox News personalities (like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham), as well as explored in noted broscience promoter Joe Rogan's podcasts."Tucker Carlson Hyped These Fringe COVID Theories. The Science Just Fell Apart" by Corbin Bolies, Daily Beast, 2021 July 16"The FDA Is Begging You Not to Take Horse Dewormer for Covid-19" by Peter Wade, Rolling Stone, 2021 August 21"Some people are taking an anti-parasitic to treat COVID. Here’s why that’s a bad idea" by Katie Camero, Miami Herald, 2021 August 6 Carlson even went as far to promote a former evolutionary biology professor named (brother of Eric Weinstein on his show, and who was also more noteworthy at that time for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 than any accomplishments in academia), who strangely claimed that ivermectin actually mooted the Emergency Authorization Use for the COVID-19 vaccine for some reason."Biologist to Tucker: If Ivermectin proven effective against COVID, it moots vaccine push" by Charles Creitz, Fox News, 2020 July 10, archived at archive.org On social media, Facebook in particular allowed groups dedicated to spreading false bullshit about ivermectin to proliferate, and even allowed ad buyers to directly target the social network's users who bought into this snake oil."Facebook's Ivermectin Groups Are Unhinged and Out of Control" by Tim Marchman, Vice, 2021 August 26"Facebook Is Allowing Ivermectin Ads at a Time When It Really Shouldn’t" by Anna Merlan, Vice, 2021 August 23
Because of this, experimental usage of livestock formulations of ivermectin (which, being formulated for a large animal like a horse or a cow, consisted of a much higher dose than pharmaceutical formulations of ivermectin to treat human worm diseases) increased during the summer of 2021, particularly those among the anti-vaccination movement who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine (which at the time was widely available in the United States, but was disproportionately being rejected by conservative Donald Trump voters/supporters)."How anti-vaxxers weaponized Ivermectin, a horse de-wormer drug, as a COVID-19 treatment" by Nicole Karlis, Salon, 2021 August 9"Risks rise as vaccination gap with Trump counties grows wider" by Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 2021 July 6 Consequently, in late August 2021, there was a noted spike in calls to the poison control centers of multiple states concerning overdoses of ivermectin."More Mississippians Using Ivermectin For Livestock Against Covid-19, Then Calling Poison Control" by Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 2021 August 21"An animal dewormer to treat COVID? Poison control centers see uptick in calls; stores sell out" by Asha C. Gilbert, USA Today, 2021 August 24 According to the FDA, this even included multiple hospitalizations.[https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19 "MWhy You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19", FDA.Gov Feed stores all across the United States were struggling to keep ivermectin in stock."Tallahassee feed store, poison control see surge in calls for livestock dewormer used as COVID treatment" by Ana Goñi-Lessan, Tallahassee Democrat, 2021 August 27 
This led to an unusually blunt tweet from the FDA on August 21, 2021 reminding people to not partake in this reckless experimentation, which simply stated: "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it.""You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it.", @US_FDA, Twitter, tweet posted on 21 August 2021, archived at archive.is on 2021 August 21 Despite this, the misuse continued. On September 1st 2021 in rural Oklahoma, a doctor reported that the emergency rooms were backed up so badly with ivermectin overdose cases that gunshot victims were "having a hard time getting to facilities" and ambulance systems were "stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open"."Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances" by Katelyn Ogle, KFOR, 2021 September 1
At this point we'd like to note that the folks who overdose on this stuff usually wind up SHITTING OUT THEIR STOMACH LINING, and we humbly beseech you to ask yourself if you seriously think the Vaccine can do anything nearly as awful to you.
A group of quack doctors formed the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance in 2020 to tout ivermectin as a treatment for COVID. By February 2023, the group started touting ivermectin for treating influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). As of February 2023, there was no clinical data to support such a recommendation.Doctors who touted ivermectin as covid fix now pushing it for flu, RSV by Lauren Weber (February 26, 2023 at 2:20 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.
You don't have to believe RationalWiki; just ask Danny Lemoi, one of ivermectin's biggest promoters (he himself took a daily dose of ivermectin) — oh wait, you can't! He's fucking dead! His final message to his followers on Telegram — intended as sarcastic, but turning out to be ironic — was "HAPPY FRIDAY ALL YOU POISONOUS HORSE PASTE EATING SURVIVORS !!!", hours before he died from ivermectin-induced heart disease.An Ivermectin Influencer Died. Now His Followers Are Worried About Their Own ‘Severe’ Symptoms. Danny Lemoi took a daily dose of veterinary-grade ivermectin and told his thousands of followers to give the drug to children. He died of a common side effect of the medication. by David Gilbert (March 13, 2023, 4:00am) Vice.
===Hydrogen peroxide===
During the early days of the pandemic, notorious "alternative medicine" promoter Joseph Mercola (who, according to the was the worst promoter of COVID disinformation)"The Disinformation Dozen: Why platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers", Center for Countering Digital Hate, 24 March 2021 advocated treating those infected with COVID-19 with diluted nebulized hydrogen peroxide (that is, using a nebulizer to inhale hydrogen peroxide mist)."Nebulized Peroxide Discussion Between Drs. David Brownstein & Mercola", Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health podcast, 2020 August 30, archived from Apple Podcasts on archive.is, 2021 September 24"Will Doctors Who Are Spreading COVID-19 Misinformation Ever Face Penalty?" by Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News / Time, 2021 September 20 By September 2021, this bullshit was circulating in misinformation groups with enough energy that the issued a statement warning people that inhaling hydrogen peroxide won't do anything to help COVID-19, but may irritate one's lungs and nose, with severe pulmonary irritation possible if one breathes concentrated peroxide mist that one forgot to dilute."DANGER! Don’t Nebulize Hydrogen Peroxide and Breathe It to Try to Treat or Prevent COVID-19", AAFA Community Services, 2021 September 21 Like bleach, hydrogen peroxide is an effective cleaning disinfectant against COVID-19 viruses,"Fight coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission at home", Mayo Clinic Staff, Mayo Clinic but also like bleach, you really don't want to put this inside your body.
===Facial masks, an assault on mah freedom!===
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."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 But by May 2020, the evidence was compelling that masks were actually pretty damn 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 was advisable to wear a mask as much as possible (particularly in crowds and indoor locations), in order to offer some protection against getting COVID-19 (and even more protection against asymptomatic cases unknowingly infecting other people)."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 In America, this resulted in some states and towns passing laws to make mask-wearing mandatory, at least in indoor locations.
Naturally, conspiracy theories about masks popped up almost immediately online. In Plandemic, Judy Mikovits claimed that masking up "literally activates your own virus", a claim so asinine to scientists that one wonders exactly what Mikovits actually learned while obtaining her biochemistry degree."Debunking the most dangerous claims of 'Plandemic'" by Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience, 2020 May 13 Donald Trump made a point of refusing to wear a mask in public"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 and only begrudgingly started to wear masks sometimes in July 2020."The mask decision that will haunt Trump's reelection bid" by Kevin Liptak, Pamela Brown, and Sarah Westwood, CNN, 2020 July 7 Polls showed that the more conservative media one watched, the more one refused to embrace social distancing and mask-wearing."Is the Media Creating Division on COVID-19 Health Practices?" by Robert Bird and Zacc Ritter. Gallup, 2020 June 23 Many conservative news sources likeFox News seemed more interested in mocking mask laws and using masks as a conservative "talking point" that related to generic "freedom" oriented rhetoric and attacks on Democrat politicians."How Fox News helped turn masks into another culture war flashpoint" by Matt Gertz, 2020 July 1 In the worst-case scenarios, this led to many maskless freedom fighters fuckernongs 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 resulted in a large number of viral videos documenting these facial mask meltdowns."Fighting Over Masks in Public Is the New American Pastime" by Jonah Engel Bromwich, New York Times, 2020 June 30
In June 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.The "Freedom to Breathe Agency" by Mark Frauenfelder (9:56 am Thu Jun 25, 2020) Boing Boing. The Department of Justice issued a warning that the cards were not issued by any Government agency.'These cards do not carry the force of law': DOJ warns of fake coronavirus mask exception cards (June 27, 2020) ABC News. As of June 29, 2020, both the website and the Facebook page have vanished.
By 2021, the delta variant of COVID was overtaking America, and was overwhelming hospitals again (particularly in states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election)."What a pandemic of the unvaccinated looks like" by Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2021 August 26 Opposition to facial masks at this point had practically become a key tenet of far-right American conservative identity, leading to continued incidents of anti-mask hysteria. In particular, formerly dull and boring school board meetings in 2021 became hot spots for anti-mask zealots to yell out bizarre conspiracy theories and nonsensical Nazi analogies,"America’s School Board Meetings Are Getting Weird — and Scary" by Michelle Cottle, New York Times, 2021 September 6 even on occasion leading to violent brawls over mask policy."Fight Breaks Out After School Board Votes in Favor of Mask Mandate" by Jack Beresford, Newsweek, 2021 September 8 This hostility was enough to make some school board members consider resigning out of fear for their safety."As School Board Meetings Get Hostile, Some Members Are Calling It Quits", Associated Press, 2021 August 30, reprinted at NPR.org
In February 2021, the implemented a mandate for flying on airlines where masks were required to be worn while in flight or in transportation facilities. This contributed to significantly increased "air rage" incidents in 2021."Dread at 30,000 feet: Inside the increasingly violent world of US flight attendants" by Francesca Street, CNN, 2021 September 6 Of the 3,889 reports of unruly passenger incidents the FAA recorded between February and August 2021, 2,867 unruly passenger cases were due to refusing to comply with mask policy guidelines."FAA Fines Against Unruly Passengers Reach $1M", press release, Federal Aviation Administration, 2021 August 19 This uptick in unruly behavior was enough for several US airlines to temporarily suspend in-cabin alcohol service in an attempt to calm passengers down."American Airlines extends alcohol ban in main cabin through Jan. 18 — when federal mask mandate expires" by Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 2021 August 19 
Republican governors like Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Greg Abbott (R-TX), who were looking to out-Trump Trump in the 2024 election, went beyond simply eliminating any state mask mandates. In fact, the two governors issued unpopular"DeSantis, Abbott Retain GOP Backing Even as Overall Popularity Declines Amid COVID-19 Surges" by Eli Yokley, Morning Consult, 2021 September 2 executive orders explicitly forbidding any local agency to have mask mandates at all. Even worse, they threatened any school districts and other local public officials that defied their legally questionable executive orders with fines or the withholding of salaries."Texas Gov. Abbott threatens fines again against local officials and businesses that enforce mask mandates, vaccine requirements" by Robert Towey, CNBC, 2021 July 29"Florida governor's office says state could withhold salaries of officials who enact school mask mandates" by Rebekah Riess and Steve Almasy, CNN, 2021 August 10 Some conservative pundits were also continuing to bitch about face masks. In April 2021, Tucker Carlson suggested that people call child protective services to report supposed "child abuse" if they see a child wearing a face mask."Tucker Carlson’s latest idiocy on masks is dangerous and hypocritical even by his usual standards" by Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post, 2021 April 27
This has been a fine example of Natural Selection in action.
==Racism, bigotry and trolling==
The pandemic brought out great enmity between whites and minorities (who were disproportionately affected) while also stoking 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 bigotry imaginable. This whole mess harkens back to old racist sentiments that Chinese people are filthy and eat any animal they want."The coronavirus reawakens old racist tropes against Chinese people" by John Pomfret, Washington Post, 2020 Februrary 5 Many Asians (regardless of whether they were Chinese or not, even Taiwanese people) reported experiencing increased profiling and social isolation over concerns that they could've had COVID-19 (complete with racist terms and tropes in some cases). Rumors about Shen Yun being a vector for coronavirus began 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.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. Business took a nosedive at many Asian-oriented establishments in the West."The coronavirus panic is turning the UK into a hostile environment for east Asians" by Sam Phan, The Guardian, 2020 January 27 These verbal attacks have occasionally crossed over into assault and harassment."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 It was most apparent when racists didn't get the nationality correct and assumed every East Asian they saw was a new Chinese immigrant and not someone that had been living in a given country long before the outbreak even began.
A few businesses across the globe forbade "all people coming from China" from entering their establishment due to excessive COVID-19 fears."‘No Chinese allowed’: Racism and fear is now spreading along with the coronavirus" by Quentin Fottrell, Marketwatch, 2020 February 3 Stoking anti-immigrant bigotry while politicizing 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 Democrats of doing the very same thing he was doing. He then linked the virus to "many other public health threats" from "the Democrat policy of open borders"."Trump calls coronavirus criticism Democrats' 'new hoax' and links it to immigration" by Daniel Strauss and Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, 2020 February 28 Fear of infectious disease is widely seen as being a strong motivating factor behind racism"What fuels prejudice?" by Peter Reuell, Harvard Gazette, 2019 August 5, so naturally Trump called it a "foreign" virus,LeBlanc, P. (March 11, 2020). "Trump called coronavirus a 'foreign virus' in Oval Office address". CNN. Retrieved March 12, 2020. (viruses don't give a shit about whatever political boundaries humans invent) to "rally his base" behind his racist and xenophobic"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 "immigration policy".
A laughable/sad instance of plumb-ignorant racism involved 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"Watch out for this extremely fake, weirdly racist viral post about coronavirus" by Caitlin Welsh, Mashable.com, 2020 January 28 (despite Lipton being a British company). It had gotten so bad that responded to it.
For some reason, a story about a man living in China who contracted, and was successfully treated for COVID-19"Coronavirus: A Cameroon student on how he recovered" by Danny Vincent, BBC News, 2020 February 17 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 thrice as strong, powerful, and resistant as those of a white person". There is no scientific evidence to support this claim."Black people aren’t more resistant to novel coronavirus" by Anne-Sophie Faivre Le Cadre, AFP Fact Check, 2020 February 12
Fundie conspiracy theorist and radio broadcaster Rick Wiles blamed Jews for spreading COVID-19 because they are not Christians. ("God is spreading it in your synagogues! You are under judgment because you oppose his son, Jesus Christ.")Conservative pastor says spread of coronavirus in synagogues is punishment from God (March 29, 2020 2:21 pm) Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Members of the far right picked up on this because Jews are the main scapegoat for antisemites; strangely, these antisemites thought that Jews control virus labs in China. 'Jews Control Chinese Labs That Created Coronavirus': White Supremacists’ Dangerous New Conspiracy Theory: Far right theories on a Jewish-Chinese COVID-19 cabal are breaking out of the infamously anti-Semitic dark web – with real-world consequences by Flora Cassen (May 3, 2020) Haaretz.Coronavirus and the Plague of Antisemitism (2020) Community Security Trust.
Many ecofascists have made statements stating that humanity is the "disease" and that COVID-19 is nature's "cure" or "revenge," ThomasSchulz (March 17, 2020). . Twitter. Retrieved April 13, 2020. either ignoring that the disease is disproportionately fatal for poor, non-white people, who often live in third world countries or acknowledging it but not giving a fuck because they either lack empathy for these 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 was asymptomatic, exposing at least 1,500 people to the virus. For some Korean media outlets, him being gay was the most problematic aspect of this story. This led to homophobic public opinion and hate speech against LGBT people within the Korean Internet community."Korean media’s focus on ‘gay’ club in COVID-19 case further stigmatizes LGBT people" by Ock Hyun-ju, Korea Herald, 2020 May 8
===Denying immigrants basic human rights===
It's particularly heartbreaking that immigrants, especially working class immigrants, were left to fend for themselves while other groups received relief packages. It mirrored the xenophobic backlashes in America centuries ago when it was believed that Irish immigrants carried cholera and Jewish immigrants spread tuberculosis. The exclusion was most notable in the United States, at the time led by an incompetent and bigoted president, where long-entrenched beliefs about "bootstraps" and expendable "undeserving poor" dominate right-wing political discourse. Trump excluded stimulus checks to immigrants without social security numbers and who only filed joint tax returns, including those married to them, barring 1.2 million Americans from receiving aid.Jarvie, J. (April 20, 2020). "These U.S. citizens won't get coronavirus stimulus checks — because their spouses are immigrants" Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 8, 2020. As a result, Americans that used Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) to pay taxes did not get a dime despite working and paying taxes. Meanwhile those serving the military were exempt. For obvious reasons.
A change to the public charge law in 2018 made it difficult for immigrants to receive a green card if they seek aid or are in situations that make them likely to seek aid (including Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, and the 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 never pursued aid in fear of jeopardizing their immigration status, thus leaving them more at risk of getting incapacitated by the coronavirus.Bernstein, H.; Gonzalez, D.; Karpman, M.; Zuckerman, S. (May 22, 2019). "One in Seven Adults in Immigrant Families Reported Avoiding Public Benefit Programs in 2018." Urban Institute. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
==It's better to just let people die rather than lose money… or the election==
Several world leaders horribly fucked up their responses to the pandemic, engaging in denialism. The commonalities among them were either populism or authoritarianism:Which world leader has the worst pandemic record? The competition is fierce. by Frida Ghitis (March 30, 2021 at 11:57 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
*Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil (below)
*Donald Trump of the US (below) — even his own COVID adviser, Deborah Birx, admitted as much but only after being booted from office
*Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico — refused to wear a mask and told Mexicans to "live life as usual". The actual death count (321,000) was 60% higher than previously reported,Mexico’s real COVID-19 death toll now stands at over 321,000 (March 27, 2021) AP. perhaps indicating official suppression. He also stated that the disease was not serious or dangerous and boasted of amulets protecting him from COVID-19.Mexico's choice: Amulets or science to fight COVID-19 (March 29, 2020) CBC.
*Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus — called the pandemic a "psychosis" and prescribed vodka and saunas to prevent it (the virus or the psychosis?)
*Turkmenistan — has banned mask wearing and the use of the word 'coronavirus' in media and health information.[https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/31/824611607/turkmenistan-has-banned-use-of-the-word-coronavirus
*Hun Sen of Cambodia — welcomed cruise ships and used the pandemic as a cover for increasing repression
*John Magufuli of Tanzania — told citizens not to use masks or vaccines, and that prayer would cure COVIDTanzania leader says prayer will cure Covid, as hospitals overflow: Experts fear policies of John Magufuli could undermine vaccine programme in Africa by Jason Burke (28 Feb 2021 04.00 EST) The Guardian. He likely died of COVID, perhaps while praying.
*Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party — in the leadup to India's catastrophic second wave of infections, Modi and the BJP allowed the 9-million strong Kumbh Mela religious gathering to go ahead, and he led massive political campaign gatherings.India's Kumbh festival attracts big crowds amid devastating second Covid wave by Vineet Khare (April 17, 2021).India’s Modi scorned over reckless rallies, religious gathering amid virus mayhem by Krishna Das & Aftab Ahmed (April 19, 20215:44 PM PDT) Reuters. Field hospitals that were constructed during the first wave had been dismantled nationwide before the onset of the second wave.New Epicenter of Pandemic: The COVID Crisis in India Global Epidemics, Brown School of Public Health.
===United States of America===
A common theme among Republicans was that the economy running normally was more important than thousands dying. This most often went unsaid, but came in the form of denial of the severity of the pandemicThe 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. or in the form of many Republican governors' refusals to follow health experts' advice on mandating social distancing.States with Republican Governors Delayed Action on Social Distancing Measures, Study Finds by James Walker (3/31/20 at 3:56 AM EDT) Newsweek.
The economic reality however is that without the availability of an effective vaccine, the cost of not implementing social distancing measures cost the US economy $5.2 trillion.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. 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.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. A separate analysis from University of Chicago economists Michael Greenstone and Vishan Nigam concluded: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.
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. 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.
Fighting Covid was still, however, incredibly expensive, and, as of February 2023, the US government spent over 4 trillion dollars on it — more than Germany's entire GDP.
====Wingnut Reaction====
In the case of conspiracy theorist/Trump-fanboy Bill Mitchell,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. he was caught tweeting: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).
America, like most nations in response to COVID-19, used non-pharmaceutical interventions like and to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In the middle of April 2020, several protests against the lockdown erupted in many states. 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 paraphernalia at these rallies)."Protesting for the Freedom to Catch the Coronavirus" by Charlie Warzel, New York Times, 2020 April 19"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 The racial makeup of these protests were majority white, even in more racially diverse states like California.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. Obviously, most Americans, including some conservatives, thought these protesters had lost their marbles."Americans, including a plurality of Republicans, oppose the anti-lockdown protests taking place across the country" by Grace Panetta, Business Insider, 2020 Apr 21 
The rallies, while ostensibly a grassroots protest, were revealed to be astroturf operations on close examination, with ties to industrialist figures like Betsy DeVos and the Koch family, as well as shit-stirrers seeking to profit from the paranoids (naturally, a show hosted at Infowars was behind a protest in Texas, and Alex Jones was in attendance)."Conservatives Fuel Protests Against Coronavirus Lockdowns" by Manny Fernandez, New York Times, 2020 April 18"Trump's Tea Party: Are right-wing "open the country" protests an AstroTurf operation?" by Sophia Tesfaye, Salon, 2020 April 16"Who's Behind the Reopen Domain Surge?" by Brian Krebs, KrebsOnSecurity, 2020 April 20 The rallies 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 staff, Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development.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. 
Naturally, Trump enthusiastically retweeted support for these protests;"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 in contrast, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director warned that the anti-quarantine protesters could actually prolong the shutdown."'It's going to backfire': Fauci says anti-quarantine protesters could prolong shutdown" by Mike Brest, Washington Examiner, 2020 Apr 20 (In spite of calls to "fire Fauci" at the protest rallies, as of April 19, 2020, far more Americans trusted Fauci for information on COVID-19 compared to Trump.NBC News / Wall Street Journal Survey, Hart Research Associates, April 13-15 2020) 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 this spike."Tulsa health official says Trump rally "likely contributed" to spike in coronavirus cases" by Grace Segers and Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 2020 July 9
Fox News host Pete Hegseth on May 7, 2020, as usual, advised people on a panel program called 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 COVID.)"Fox News Host Calls on ‘Healthy People’ to ‘Have Some Courage’ and Get Infected With Coronavirus" by Justin Baragona, Daily Beast, 2020 May 07 Apparently no lessons were learned from co-host Jedediah Bila, who contracted the virus on April 9."After her colleagues dismissed the pandemic, ‘Fox & Friends’ weekend co-host contracts the coronavirus" by Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 2020 April 9 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."New research explores how conservative media misinformation may have intensified the severity of the pandemic" by Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, 2020 June 25
Some business CEOs also took the stance that keeping the business open was more important than the health of the population. One of the more prominent CEO bullshit artists and attention whores during the pandemic was South African nepobaby Elon Musk. In between giving his new baby boy an unpronounceable name that would have been proud of"Elon Musk and Grimes welcome a baby boy" by Alaa Elassar, 2020 May 5, CNN and dissing on Joe Rogan's podcast"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, Musk used his Twitter account to broadcast his indignation over what he felt was a "dumb" coronavirus "panic". During the first several months of the pandemic, he promised (but failed) to manufacture ventilators for hospitals, he promoted chloroquine horseshit on his Twitter feed, and he called stay-at-home orders "forcible imprisoning" and "fascist" during an expletive-filled first quarter earnings call."Coronavirus has Elon Musk acting like just another used car salesman" by Julia Carrie Wong, Guardian, 2020 May 1"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 On May 11, 2020, Musk defied a county lockdown order and reopened Tesla's California manufacturing facility."Tesla and Elon Musk reopen California facility, defying orders meant to stem coronavirus spread" by Brian Fung, CNN, 2020 May 11
Fringe personalities, generally from the wingnut right, also moaned about the virus being nothing more than a conspiracy to destroy the economy. For example, ex-sheriff David Clarke thought that attempts to stop the spread of coronavirus by restricting large gatherings were "an orchestrated attempt to destroy capitalism."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).
By the summer of 2021, the COVID-19 vaccine was widely available in the United States, with 52.7% of the population fully vaccinated as of August 28, 2021.U.S. Vaccination Rate, Google search result, archived on 2021 August 29 However, there was a notable gap in vaccination rates between counties that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election and counties that voted for Donald Trump."The Red/Blue Divide in COVID-19 Vaccination Rates is Growing" by Jennifer Kates, Jennifer Tolbert, and Kendal Orgera, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2021 July 8 Although not all conservative media was part of the anti-vaccination movement (as an example, media outlets like the Wall Street Journal"A Covid Vaccine Crossroads, WSJ Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, 2021 July 15 and the National Review"National Review Says The Vaccines Are Good: A Collection" by Isaac Schorr, National Review, 2021 July 17 reported on vaccines positively), the message from more populist outlets like Fox News were more muddled and confused, with many hosts being pro-vaccine and the more noxious, populist prime-time hosts like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham happily spreading vaccine conspiracy theories."Conservative Media Offers Mixed Messages on COVID-19 Vaccine" by Associated Press, 2021 July 21, reprinted in US News and World Report But it was on social media where anti-vaccination bullshit was proliferating the fastest, attracting an audience of anti-intellectuals who distrusted "elites" and were happy to believe flashy social media "influencers" JAQing off on the vaccine, instead of listening to the advice of trained medical experts."The Anti-Vaccine Influencers Who Are Merely Asking Questions" by Renee DiResta, Atlantic, 2021 April 24 (This despite the possibility that these "influencers" might actually have been disseminating paid bullshit from provocateur nations like Russia.)"The YouTubers who blew the whistle on an anti-vax plot" by Charlie Haynes and Flora Carmichael, BBC, 2021 July 25 A 2023 analysis of 538,139 deaths in Ohio and Florida between January 2018 and December 2021 found that there was a substantial differential death rate between registered Republicans and Democrats after vaccines were made available but not before vaccines were made available. The Republican death rate was 7.7% higher than then Democratic Party death rate after vaccines were available,Vaccine politics may be to blame for GOP excess deaths, study finds by David Ovalle (July 24, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post. indicating that Republican disinformation was killing their own.
Though not foolproof, the COVID-19 vaccines were highly effective at preventing hospitalization, including against the "delta variant" which was running rampant throughout the world at the time."Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine", CDC, 2021 August 16 Naturally, this led to multiple rounds of schadenfreude stories on the Internet where prominent vocal conservative antvaxx media populists caught COVID-19 and suffered severe complications, or even death. In August 2021 alone, such stories included four conservative talk show hosts who died from COVID-19 (Marc Bernier, , Jimmy DeYoung, );"Marc Bernier is Fourth Anti-vaccine Radio Host to Die of Covid this Month", Daily Kos community post by mastergardener2K, 2021 August 29 a prominent anti-mask campaigner in Texas named Caleb Wallace who caught COVID-19 and died;"Caleb Wallace, anti-mask organizer and co-founder of the San Angelo Freedom Defenders, dies of COVID-19" by Jeff Caldwell, KXAN, 2021 August 28 an attorney named John Pierce who had represented Kyle Rittenhouse and several 2021 U.S. Capitol riot defendants, and later was reported to be "in the hospital... with COVID-19, on a ventilator, non-responsive";"A lawyer who repped Kyle Rittenhouse and at least 17 alleged Capitol rioters has been mysteriously hospitalized" by Michelle Mark and Rebecca Cohen, Insider, 2021 August 26 Milo Yiannopoulos, who caught the virus and reportedly made a post showing him injecting himself with the deworming drug ivermectin in a futile attempt to cure his symptoms;[https://www.newsweek.com/milo-yiannopoulos-reports-having-covid-shares-pic-ivermectin-this-not-fun-1624019 "Milo Yiannopoulos Reports Having COVID, Shares Pic of Ivermectin: 'This Is Not Fun'" by Natalie Colarossi, Newsweek, 2021 August 28 North Carolina Republican representative Keith Kidwell, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 after calling vaccine campaigns "manipulative";"Craven lawmaker critical of mask mandates, vaccines hospitalized with COVID" by Todd Wetherington, Sun Journal, 2021 August 17 Missouri state representative Sara Walsh, who refused to get vaccinated and whose similarly anti-vaxx husband ended up dying from the disease;"Missouri state Rep. Sara Walsh's husband dies of COVID-19" by Hailey Godburn, KSHB, 2021 August 19 , an arch-conservative anti-Francis"The Pope’s No. 1 American Nemesis—a COVID Skeptic—Is Now Fighting for His Life" by Barbie Latza Naeau, Daily Beast, 2021 August 17 cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and outspoken COVID-19 vaccine critic who caught COVID and was placed on a ventilator;"Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, a Covid-19 vaccination critic, is hospitalized and on a ventilator" by Jennifer Henderson and Polo Sandoval, CNN, 2021 August 16 Maine state representative Chris Johansen, who was fiercely anti-vaccination, to the point where even though he lost his wife to COVID-19, he hid this information from the media and still was attending anti-vaccination rallies;"GOP Lawmaker Whose Wife Recently Died Responds To Criticism After Attending Vaccination Protest" by Steve Mistler, Maine Public Radio, 2021 August 23 Pressley Stutts, a leader of the Tea Party in Greenvile, South Carolina, who fought anti-vaccination efforts and later died of the virus;"GOP Leader Who Fought Against Vaccine Dies After Weekslong Battle With Coronavirus" by Ed Mazza, Huffington Post, 2021 August 20 and Wisconsin Senator , an outspoken lawmaker against COVID-19 vaccine mandates who caught COVID and was intubated."Hospitalized with COVID-19, Sen. Andre Jacque is breathing with a ventilator" by Molly Beck and Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2021 August 24 
Politicians who were vaccinated 
reported contracting breakthrough COVID infections, which even included some Republicans such as South Carolina representative "GOP congressman gets COVID-19 after suing Pelosi over mask rule" by Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 2021 August 6 and Texas governor Greg Abbott,"Texas Gov. Abbott, who banned mask and vaccine mandates, tests positive for Covid" by Robert Towey, CNBC, 2021 August 17 generally reported mild symptoms. Even Donald Trump (who had promoted anti-vaccine quackery even before his presidency"Donald Trump Enters Anti-Vaccine Quack Territory" by Torie Bosch, Slate XXFactor, 2012 April 3 and, despite impressive early investments in vaccines via in 2020, also fueled much of the anti-vaccination hysteria in 2021 by downplaying mitigation measures during his presidency."The Republican anti-vax delusion" by The Economist, 2021 July 17) quietly got vaccinated against COVID in January 2021"Trump Vaccinated In January After Claiming He Was ‘Immune’ To Covid-19" by Jemima McEvoy, Forbes, 2021 March 1 However, by 2021, antivaxx hysteria was in such force among American conservatives that Trump was actually booed in a late August rally for merely suggesting that the vaccines were good."Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated" by Allan Smith, NBC News, 2021 August 22
====It's better to just let students and teachers die rather than lose money====
After touting 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:
I.e., never mind the ("First, do no harm."), we need the money. Oz tried to walk back his quote within 24 hours, but the harm was already done.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.
In the summer of 2020, as America debated whether or not to reopen schools in the fall of that year, many Republican politicians echoed Oz's general sentiment, preferring bloodyminded bluster in their push to re-open schools, without much thought for safety. Naturally, teachers as a whole were not happy with this development. Most would have been happy reopening schools if the viral caseload for the area was low enough, and proper sanitation guidelines for re-opening schools (issued by the ) were followed."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 However, many Republican leaders were insisting on a full scale reopening"Teachers Are Writing Their Wills" by Gretty Garcia, The Cut, New York magazine, 2020 July 20 in spite of, at that time, many Republican led states and towns also being COVID-19 hotspots."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 One teachers' union; (in Florida) sued to block reopening;"Florida Teachers Sue To Block School Coronavirus Reopening Mandate" by Greg Allen, NPR, 2020 July 20 many other teachers had quit or retired early in response."Back To School: Teachers Are Ready To Quit Rather Than Put Their Lives At Risk" by Caroline O'Donovan, Buzzfeed News, 2020 July 16"Coronavirus concerns nudge some teachers toward classroom exits" by Kantele Franko, Associated Press, 2020 July 21 Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, showed her compassion to teachers by making an empty threat to defund schools that don't open."Education secretary faces backlash after demanding schools reopen full-time amid pandemic" by Libby Cathey, ABC News, 2020 July 13 Louisiana Senator was even more compassionate when he advocated on Hannity's Fox News show that those who oppose schools' reopenings "can kiss my ass"."Sen. Kennedy: Those Using Kids As Political Pawns To Close Schools Can "Kiss My Ass" by Ian Schwartz, RealClearPolitics, 2020 July 13 
Predictably, many schools after they reopened became the site of COVID-19 outbreaks; the outbreaks often caused many students to be quarantined, and in some cases resulted in the school shutting down almost immediately after reopening."As Schools Open, Coronavirus Outbreaks Follow" by Adam K. Raymond, New York magazine, 2020 Aug 7"5 photos from schools that have reopened show a disaster in the making" by Taylor Borden, Business Insider, 2020 Aug 11"1,193 Quarantined for Covid. Is This a Successful School Reopening?" by Richard Fausset, New York Times, 2020 Aug 12 In one case, in North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, a student posted a photo of the school hallways shortly after reopening. 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."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 (Facing backlash, the suspension was removed a few days later.)"Georgia school reverses suspension of teen who shared viral photo of hallway packed with students" by Lateshia Beachum, Washington Post, 2020 August 7 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 adopt an alternate hybrid in-person/virtual learning strategy afterward."35 students, teachers test positive for COVID-19 at North Paulding HS" by Angelina Velasquez, CBS 46, 2020 August 12 In another case, a school district cancelled plans to reopen schools after teachers staged a "sick out" in protest."U.S. School District Cancels Classes After Teacher 'Sick Out' Over Virus Fears", New York Times briefing, 2020 August 15 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."Colleges Closing: University Outbreaks and Parental Angst" by Amelia Nierenberg and Adam Pasick, New York Times, 2020 Aug 19
====The lethal COVID injection====
America's practice of mass incarceration and prison crowding (making social distancing impossible), with people of color and people with mental health disabilities disproportionately affected thanks to racism and being inflamed by Trump's overt bigotry, made it the perfect storm for COVID-19 for the prison population and the staff. People in prison were 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 were around five times as likely to contract the disease,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. and more prisoners have died of COVID than those executed since 2001.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. More than 900 people had died from COVID in state and federal prisonsPowell, W. (September 7, 2020). "Bones in our basements: Addressing COVID-19 and incarceration". Medical News Today. Accessed February 9, 2021. and the Marshall Project estimates that over 300,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19.The Marshall Project (February 5, 2021). "A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons". Accessed February 9, 2021. Every state barring Vermont reported at least one death from a prison. More than 100,000 prison staff tested positive.
In one illustrative example of Democratic indifference toward the treatment of incarcerated people, Cassandra Greer-Lee had to call the Democratic sheriff, the Cook County jail, the jail's hospital Cermak, 132 timesLee, C. (February 7, 2021). "COVID-19 Killed My Husband in Jail. So Did Democrats’ Indifference". Current Affairs. Accessed February 9, 2021. describing the horrible jail conditions and pleading for assistance for her husband, Nickolas Lee, who was presumed innocent but was still locked up and showing signs of developing COVID-19. She even went to the jail herself to try to get the attention of corrections officers. No action was taken until her husband was taken to a hospital and eventually died. The only semblance of a response was the office bringing up Nick's past record for being convicted of armed robbery,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 hardly an excuse for the lack of a response. 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.Corely, C. (April 13, 2020). "The COVID-19 Struggle In Chicago's Cook County Jail". NPR. Accessed February 9, 2021.
====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.How many coronavirus deaths are truly attributable to Trump? by Philip Bump (Oct. 23, 2020 at 11:14 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. 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).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. 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 other countries' responses, much of which would be attributable to Trump due to his administration's "hostility to much of the critical guidance and recommendations put forth by its own health agencies".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. One estimate of worst-case total US deaths from COVID was 620,029. Given that initial disease response (lockdowns and mask-wearing) is critical in reducing total deaths, a large proportion of the total US deaths would be attributable to Trump regardless of whether the deaths occured after he left office. A post-Trump analysis by a Lancet commission estimated that 40% of the 470,000 US COVID deaths (188,000 deaths) could have been averted if Trump had taken the pandemic seriously; the study compared death rates among G7 countries.US could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump's policies: The country began the pandemic with a degraded public health infrastructure, leading to more deaths than other high-income countries by Amanda Holpuch (11 Feb 2021 00.01 EST) The Guardian.Public policy and health in the Trump era by Steffie Woolhandler et al. (2021) The Lancet 397(10275):705-753. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32545-9.
Out of a total force of 3,200 Secret Service agents, 881 tested positive for COVID between March 2020 and March 2021; of the 881, 447 worked for the special agent division tasked to protect the president and vice president.Watchdog says almost 900 Secret Service employees were infected with COVID by Josh Boak (Jun 22, 2021 2:26 PM EDT) PBS. Trump took specific — and unnecessary — actions that increased the exposure risk to agents, for example by directly exposing agents in a car while he was being treated for COVID, and by holding a campaign rally in Tulsa that largely ignored social distancing precautions.Nearly 900 Secret Service members were infected with the coronavirus. A watchdog blames Trump by Timothy Bella (June 23, 2021 at 10:57 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
===Brazil===
Similarly, President Jair Bolsonaro wagered that keeping the Brazilian economy running was the only way to get reelected as long as the body count didn't rise too high.In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, Trump’s Close Ally, Dangerously Downplays the Coronavirus Risk by Jon Lee Anderson (April 1, 2020) The New Yorker. His strong resistance to quarantine measures and his repeated COVID-19 denialism (a stance that ran contrary to almost every other leader on the planet— he repeatedly downplayed COVID-19 as "a bit of sniffles" or a "little flu") led to defiance from most of Brazil's governors (who largely implemented quarantines in their own states), nightly protests in many Brazilian cities, and a declining approval rating."Bolsonaro's disapproval rating rises amid virus havoc", France24, 2020 April 3"Brazil's President Still Insists the Coronavirus Is Overblown. These Governors Are Fighting Back" by Matt Sandy and Flavia Milhorance, Time, 2020 April 6 Bolsonaro's frequent clashes with Brazilian health minister (who advocated social isolation, and had a 76 percent approval rating as a result, compared to Bolsonaro's 28 percent approval rating) eventually led to Mandetta being fired by Bolsonaro on April 16, 2020."Brazilian President Fires Health Minister After Clashes Over Coronavirus Distancing" by Philip Reeves, AP, 2020 April 16 
The health care minister appointed to replace Mandetta, , 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 chloroquine pseudoscience 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."Coronavirus: Brazil's Bolsonaro sees second health minister quit", BBC News, 2020 April 15"Brazil’s Health Minister Quits After Refusing Bolsonaro’s Chloroquine Push" by Travis Waldron, Huffington Post, 2020 May 15 Teich was replaced by a temporary appointment, Eduardo Pazuello, an army general with no previous medical experience."Brazil ex-health chief says ministry 'lost credibility'", France24, 2020 June 20See the Wikipedia Portuguese article on Eduardo Pazuello
Bolsonaro went 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 had taken."Coronavirus: Brazil's Bolsonaro joins anti-lockdown protests", BBC, 2020 April 20 
Bolsonaro's callous and dismissive response to the virus (including the above quote, which trended on social media) infuriated many Brazilians, as well as many other government officials (including Bolsonaro's popular justice minister, , who resigned from Bolsonaro's administration on April 24, 2020, in part because Bolsonaro was being an anti-science fuckernong on COVID-19.)"Brazil's star justice minister Sérgio Moro resigns in blow to Jair Bolsonaro" by Tom Phillips, Guardian, 2020 Apr 24
One of Bolsonaro's sons, a popular video game streamer named Jair Renan Bolsonaro, got temporarily banned from 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"."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
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)"Brazil Must Be Open With Its Coronavirus Data, Supreme Court Justice Rules" by Colin Dwyer, NPR, 2020 June 9"Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak" by the New York Times, 2020 June 11, archived on 2020 June 11, 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."Bolsonaro é o maior culpado pelas mortes na pandemia, diz pesquisa" por Robson Bonin, Veja. 2020 May 22 Bolsonaro responded 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.[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 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."Coronavirus: Brazil resumes publishing Covid-19 data after court ruling", BBC News, 2020 June 9
After spending the rest of June continuing to downplay the virus and scuttling preventative measures, like vetoing elements of a mandatory mask law passed by the lower house,"Brazil opens itself up, to everything except masks" by Bill Weir, CNN, 2020 July 6 on July 7, 2020, Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19."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
By late March 2021, total official COVID-19 deaths in Brazil rose above 300,000,"Brazil Blows Past 300,000 Covid Deaths With No Respite in Sight" by Rachel Gamarski and Caroline Aragaki, Bloomberg, 2021 March 24 and Brazil had the highest amount of deaths from COVID-19 per day in the world."In Brazil, few Covid vaccines, world's deadliest daily record and misinformation" by Carolina Torres and Leonardo Coelho, NBC News, 2021 March 29 The total death count in Brazil at this time was only exceeded by the United States, who had just begun a mass vaccination campaign without any supply constraints."Americans are rushing to get vaccinated as covid-19 cases spread", Economist, 2021 April 3 The vaccination rollout in Brazil, in contrast, was proceeding very slowly, with the rollout constrained by Bolsonaro's policies."No vaccines, no leadership, no end in sight. How Brazil became a global threat" by Matt Rivers, CNN, 2021 March 22 Intensive care occupancy in Brazil was at 80% or above in all but two of Brazil's 27 states."Covid: Brazil's Bolsonaro calls governors 'tyrants' over lockdowns" by BBC News, 22 March 2021 Despite a new more transmissible variant called "P.1" taking hold in Brazil, Bolsonaro was still downplaying the virus, arresting critics and protesters, and suing state governments who wished to impose COVID-19 lockdowns. Experts warned that the out of control pandemic, and Bolsonaro's inability to even try to manage the pandemic, made it far more possible that new potentially more transmissible or deadly variants would emerge. This made Brazil, and the failure of Bolsonaro's leadership on COVID-19, a threat to global health."Bolsonaro uses Brazil's dictatorship-era law as protesters depict him as a Nazi", Associated Press, 2021 March 19, reprinted at TheGuardian.com
==It's better to just let people die rather than stop gathering to worship the Lord==
By its very nature, a religious service (with multiple people gathering indoors in close proximity, often involving singing or other forms of vocal expression) is a disease vector. As such, COVID-19 exacerbated the rift between religions that respect science, and religions that openly defy science. While many religious institutions complied with lockdowns and quarantines, some — mostly fundamentalist or evangelical sects that have historically been hostile to scientific thought — engaged in open defiance against said orders.
Inevitably, some of these religious gatherings became the source of major viral outbreaks."The coronavirus pandemic has exposed fissures within religions", Economist, 2020 Apr 11"A virus that hits all faiths tests religion’s tie to science" By Elana Schor and Marian Fam, AP, 2020 Apr 15 It is noteworthy, though, that since stay-at-home orders were implemented in the United States, churchgoing became the exception rather than the rule, even on Easter.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.
Some world leaders preferred to rely on religious tropes instead of taking any necessary actions. Then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is strongly aligned with Brazil's evangelical community, who defiantly resisted calls for a lockdown, decided that a national day of fasting and prayer was the best course of action."Brazil's Bolsonaro turns to prayer in coronavirus crisis" by Lisandra Paraguassu, Reuters, 2020 April 3 Tanzanian president 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.""Tanzania’s mild response to COVID-19 and its implications for the 2020 elections" by Neil Edwards, Atlantic Council, 2020 Mar 27 
(As proof that Magufuli's proclamation wasn't entirely the case, and the very nature of a church gathering actually makes it riskier than other scenarios, major viral outbreaks tied to religious gatherings include 2,500 cases tied to a gathering of the large in France in mid-February 2020"Special Report: Five days of worship that set a virus time bomb in France" by Tangi Salaun, Reuters, 2020 March 30, 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,"Nearly 3 dozen who attended Arkansas church event test positive for coronavirus" by Janelle Griffith, NBC News, 2020 March 26["CDC tracks cluster of coronavirus cases in rural Arkansas to church, raising alarm on religious gatherings"] by William Feuer, CNBC, 2020 May 19a church service in Frankfurt that resulted in more than 100 COVID-19 infections,"One German church service resulted in more than 100 coronavirus infections" by Zeeshan Aleem, Vox, 2020 May 24 and a choir practice in Washington state where 47 of the 60 people who attended were infected by COVID-19."2 dead from coronavirus, 45 ill after March choir rehearsal" by Theresa Waldrop, Konstantin Toropin and Joe Sutton, CNN, 2020 April 2) 
===South Korea===
A prominent example of a major COVID outbreak tied to a defiant religious group was the secretive sect 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. Over 60% of reported cases in South Korea were linked to Shincheonji, and Korean authorities sought murder and wrongful death charges against the sect.Seoul city seeks murder charges against sect founder over virus AFP March 2, 2020
===Israel===
In Israel, the Haredim make up 12% of Israel's population — but they accounted for as much as 60% of Israel's COVID-19 cases."Israel Faces Challenges In Fighting Coronavirus In Ultra-Orthodox Communities" by Daniel Estrin, NPR, 2020 April 1 While Israel generally reacted swiftly to the virus, the ultra-Orthodox community initially resisted social distancing measures, especially regarding the closure of synagogues and religious schools."Israel health minister under fire over ultra-Orthodox COVID-19 crisis" by Ben Simon, AFP, 2020 April 8 This resulted in increased tension between the Haredim community (who have 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."Calls to seal off ultra-Orthodox areas add to Israel's virus tensions" by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum, Guardian, 2020 April 6 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."Israeli Health Minister Diagnosed With Coronavirus; Top Officials Forced to Quarantine" by Aaron Rabinowitz, Haaretz, 2020 April 02 Some reports suggest that Litzman flouted social distancing rules by taking part in illicit group prayers, an accusation he denies."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
===Tanzania===
As noted above, Tanzanian president John Magufuli engaged in tepid preventative measures against COVID-19 compared to other African nations, keeping all places of worship open, and preferring to fight the virus by engaging in unhelpful measures like declaring days of national prayer"Tanzanian President Declares 3 Days of National Prayer to Help Defeat Coronavirus" by VOA News, 2020 April 17 and promoting an herbal tonic placebo as a cure."Coronavirus: Tanzanian president promises to import Madagascar's 'cure'", BBC News, 2020 May 4 Naturally, any journalist trying to do any real reporting on COVID-19 endured a crackdown."Tanzania: Authorities must end crackdown on journalists reporting on COVID-19", Amnesty International, 2020 April 21 Other African countries engaged in lockdowns and social distancing, and saw declining cases as a result."Tanzania under fire from WHO for lackluster response to COVID-19 pandemic", Deutsche Welle, 2020 May 01 Unsurprisingly in contrast, by May 2020, Tanzania had the highest number of cases in the region,"Tanzania’s 480 Covid-19 cases now the highest in the region" by Beatrice Materu, East African, 2020 May 2 and this is even before the possibility that cases were undertested and underreported due to the opaque nature of Tanzania's 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 around speculating that all 3 died of COVID-19.)"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
In February 2021, information on COVID-19 was still being suppressed by the Tanzanian government, who continued to insist there was no local transmission. Hospital data however showed an increase of patients being admitted with "breathing challenges", leading to suspicions that Tanzania was concealing a COVID-19 epidemic."Tanzanian politician's death of COVID-19 hints at concealed epidemic" by Reuters Staff, Reuters, 2021 Februrary 17 
In March 2021, it was reported that "an African leader" was being treated for COVID-19 in Nairobi, leading many to speculate it was Magufuli, who had not been seen in public since February.Where's Magufuli? Tanzanian leader's absence fuels health concern by David Lewis & Duncan Miriri (March 10, 2021 4:34 AM) Reuters. Later that month, Magufuli died. The official cause of death was "heart problems". However, some opposition leaders in Tanzania believe that the real cause of death was COVID-19."Tanzanian President John Magufuli, A COVID-19 Skeptic, Has Died" by Laurel Wamsley, NPR, 2021 March 17 Before Magufuli was hospitalized, some of his aides reportedly contracted COVID-19,"Tanzania's Covid-denying president, John Magufuli, dies aged 61" by Jason Burke, Guardian, 2021 Mar 18 and Tanzanian finance minister coughed and gasped for air (blaming "pneumonia") at a press conference whose aim was to announce that he was in good health."Tanzanian minister coughs through press conference aimed at defusing Covid fears" by Clea Skopeliti, Independent, 2021 February 25
===United States===
In America, one of the more prominent examples of a religious leader defying lockdown orders was one of The River At Tampa Bay Church in Tampa, Florida (who is heavily aligned with the conspiracist community, to the point where in 2018 he appeared on Infowars and gave Alex Jones a handgun to show that Jones was "protected by God")."Rodney Howard-Browne Gives Alex Jones A Handgun, Assures Him He’s Protected By God" by Kyle Mantyla, Right Wing Watch, 2018 May 17 Howard-Browne earned national attention by getting arrested for repeatedly refusing to comply with lockdown orders."Florida Pastor Arrested After Defying Virus Orders" by Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 2020 March 30 Howard-Browne, who believed 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"Preaching conspiracies: Coronavirus puts Tampa pastor’s beliefs into mainstream spotlight" by Tony Marrero, Tampabay.com, 2020 April 16, closed the church after this arrest — not because of the virus, but because he wanted to protect the church from "a tyrannical government"."Florida megachurch pastor says he's closing church due to 'tyrannical government'" by Kaelan Deese, The Hill, 2020 April 02
Louisiana has another religious leader defying lockdown orders, one Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge. Spell compared lockdown orders to "tyranny", believed the pandemic was "politically motivated", and continued announcing his intentions of violating the law (drawing six misdemeanor citations in the process)."Second pastor charged with violating public orders says church doors will still be open on Sunday" br Daniel Burke, CNN, 2020 April 1 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".[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 Naturally, worshiping remotely was out of the question. On April 16, 2020, one member of his church reportedly died from COVID-19, although Spell denied that this was the cause of death (never mind what the coroner's report said)."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 Later, on April 20th 2020, Spell was issued an arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon — as earlier he displayed his 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."Arrest warrant issued for defiant Louisiana pastor" by WAFB Staff, WAFB 9, 2020 April 20
Another prominent example 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 "overreaction" driven by a desire to harm Donald Trump. Unsurprisingly, Liberty University was a source of COVID-19 infections, with at least a dozen students and several employees falling ill from the virus. Falwell Jr.'s reaction to all this was to criticize the reporting of his fuckup, 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".)"Falwell Focuses on Critics as Coronavirus Cases Near His University Grow" by Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 2020 April 16"Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too" by Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 2020 March 29"Two Liberty University employees test positive for coronavirus" by Richard Chumney, News and Advance, 2020 April 16
In one case, 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."Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says" by Neil Vigdor, New York Times, April 14 2020"Bishop who defied lockdown to hold sermons is killed by coronavirus" by Jimmy McCloskey, Metro UK, 2020 Apr 14
===Ukraine===
In Ukraine, an Orthodox church called () 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 emerged as a COVID hotspot in Ukraine, with 140 monks reportedly testing positive for the virus."A monastery in Ukraine once scoffed at coronavirus measures. Now it is a hot spot." by David L. Stern, Washington Post, 2020 April 17
==Information suppression==
===China===
China's government uses several authoritarian tactics like strict secrecy and media censorship to promote "stability" and slavish adherence to central authority. When the disease first started showing up as early as December 8, 2019,The Truth About "Dramatic Action" by Da Shiji (达史纪) (Jan 27, 2020) China Media Project. 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 virus but they were reprimanded by the local government for 'spreading rumors'.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. President Xi Jinping said on January 7, 2020 that he was aware of the virus, but from January 12-17 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. 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." In response to this, however, the National Health Commission issued a 63-page document of pandemic response procedures that were labeled "internal" and "not to be publicly disclosed". 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". President Xi did not warn the public until January 20, 53 days after the virus 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."China tried to keep a lid on the coronavirus. It put everyone at risk." by the Editorial Board, Washington Post, 2020 January 29 Doctor Li Wenliang, who attempted to raise the alarm about the new coronavirus, was punished for "spreading false rumours".Although without an accurate understanding of the pathology of the newly discovered disease, and absent of a robust and independent reporting system, there was little Dr. Li could do as an individual. Wenliang died from the coronavirus on February 7th, 2020, causing widespread outrage on Chinese social media, which actually threatened to overwhelm Chinese social media censors for a time.'Hero who told the truth': Chinese rage over coronavirus death of whistleblower doctor" by Verna Yu, Guardian, 2020 February 7"Obituary: Li Wenliang" by The Economist, 2020 February 13 edition
Ever since, China has shown images in official media coverage as proof that they are/were fighting the virus. (However, some of the images that they show are not what they claim to be)."China’s Official Newspaper Mislabels Video Footage in Coronavirus Coverage" by Dan MacGuill, Snopes,com, 2020 February 2020 Naturally, they remain dedicated to censoring any *unofficial* viewpoints on social media. China is willing to flood social media with the "official viewpoint" that the outbreak is under control and we all shall be returning to work soon, citizens!"China Ramps Up Censorship On Coronavirus As Critics Risk Criminal Charges" by Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 2020 February 12 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")"How the Coronavirus Revealed Authoritarianism’s Fatal Flaw" by Zeynep Tufecki, The Atlantic, 2020 February 22 severely weakened the Chinese government's credibility among many Chinese, in spite of the heavy propaganda machine."Coronavirus Weakens China’s Powerful Propaganda Machine" by Li Yuan, New York Times, 2020 February 27 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.
The Chinese government also withheld the virus' genome for two weeks after a Chinese scientist sought to publish it in GenBank, a publicly accessible database. The delay slowed researchers from developing tests, treatments and vaccines for COVID.Chinese scientist filed covid sequence weeks before official release, records show by Dan Diamond (January 17, 2024 at 4:33 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.Chinese Lab Mapped Deadly Coronavirus Two Weeks Before Beijing Told the World, Documents Show: The lead time could have proved critical in combating pandemic, specialists say by Warren P. Strobel (Jan. 17, 2024 4:14 pm ET) The Washington Post.
===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. 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.Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents Executive Office of the President of the United States.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). The Trump Administration and its enablers also denied that such a playbook existed and blamed the Obama administration for not preparing one.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.
Trump was more concerned about how the virus would affect his approval ratings than anything else,Trump brags about high TV viewership of coronavirus briefings by Jan Wolfe (March 29, 2020 / 11:39 AM) Reuters. even to the point of opposing government-sponsored COVID testing (in short, if we can't see it, it doesn't exist). Seemingly taking a cue from Limbaugh, White House chief of staff at a 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."Media Covering Coronavirus to ‘Bring Down the President,’ Mulvaney Claims" by Annie Karni, New York Times, 2020 February 28
 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."Donald Trump Jr. just said something unreal about Democrats and the coronavirus" by Chris Cillizza, CNN, 2020 February 28
====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"The 1964 Report on Smoking and Health", U.S. National Library of Medicine, Reports of the Surgeon General) that tobacco smoking is deadly.This is ironic considering COVID-19's threat to smokers in particular."Trump’s Contempt for Expertise Is Guiding His Coronavirus Response" by Fred Kaplan, Salon, 2020 February 28"Pence's decades-old 'smoking doesn't kill' statement resurfaces after coronavirus appointment" by Vic Ryckaert, IndyStar, 2020 February 27 Letting someone like the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director"Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID Director", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease speak freely about COVID-19 was absolutely verboten."Pence Will Control All Coronavirus Messaging From Health Officials" by Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 2020 February 27
====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."HHS whistleblower claims US workers received coronavirus evacuees without proper precautions" by Kristen Holmes, Amanda Watts and Caroline Kelly, CNN. February 28, 2020 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.Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains, Navy relieves captain who raised alarm about coronavirus outbreak on aircraft carrier. NBC News, April 3, 2020
====Tweet of Fortune====
In summer 2020, COVID-19 cases severely increased in the United States, particularly spiking in states like 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 were "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 Trumpist propaganda), and the "good press" Fauci was receiving for actually having medical sense. On Twitter, Trump preferred to retweet the medical advice of , who used medical expertise gained from his hosting days to tweet that "Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors""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"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"As Florida coronavirus cases spike, Ron DeSantis says mask requirement won’t work" by Kirby Wilson, Tampa Bay Times, 2020 June 26"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
===Egypt===
Egypt's military junta has been widely criticized for a response that imposed dire economic hardships on ordinary Egyptians without effectively containing the spread, and bullying scientists and the media into accepting 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 (however, 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."Coronavirus and cover-up: Egypt's two-fronted war", Amr Khalifa, Middle East Eye, March 29, 2020
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."With a curfew and unreliable virus toll, Egypt faces a cruel Ramadan", Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, March 29, 2020
===The authoritarianism pandemic===
Many countries in 2020 that were either fully authoritarian or drifting in this direction used COVID-19 as an excuse to tighten the reins. Pandemics naturally cause restrictive responses and policies that normally would be unthinkable during normal times (like quarantines to help slow the spread of disease), but authoritarian governments used the virus as an excuse to consolidate power, and implement restrictive policies well in excess of what was 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, like Serbia, Cambodia and Togo followed suit in making their country effectively dictatorships (in some cases, allegedly temporarily, but the fear among human rights groups was that it was possible that these new arrangements would be permanent). The leader of Azerbaijan, , warned that he might have to purge the nation of "enemies". Nations such as Cambodia, Chile, Jordan, Thailand, ,"El Salvador’s president is using covid-19 as an excuse to abuse his power" by the Washington Post Editorial Board, 2020 May 1 and Russia used COVID-19 to enhance measures to crack down on dissent and suppress inconvenient political protests. Tensions between China and Hong Kong rose after prominent pro-democracy activists were arrested on April 18, 2020, violating the island's Basic Law protecting Hong Kong's freedoms."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 9How coronavirus helps Putin by Alec Luhn, Politico, 2020 March 18"For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power" by Selam Gebrekidan, New York Times, 2020 March 30"Would-be autocrats are using covid-19 as an excuse to grab more power", The Economist, 2020 April 23 
The increasing authoritarianism in the world was 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."Democracies contain epidemics most effectively", The Economist, 2020 June 6Carl 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
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."Ugandan police accused of abusing lockdown laws after LGBT arrests" by Jason Burke, 2020 Apr 1, The Guardian China used the pandemic as a veil for enhancing their repression of the Uyghurs,"The coronavirus brings new and awful repression for Uighurs in China" by Josh Rogin, Washington Post, 2020 February 26 and also seemed to be looking for just about anyone to blame, accusing and discriminating against African port workers in the city of Guangdong, evicting them from their residences and depriving them of basic resources in May 2020."China: Covid-19 Discrimination Against Africans", Human Rights Watch, 5 May 2020 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."India’s Hindu Nationalists Are Inciting Hate By Claiming Muslims Are Spreading Coronavirus" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2020 April 20 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."Trump's coronavirus order scapegoats immigrants and doesn't make us safer" by Linda Chavez and Scott Roehm, USA Today, 2020 April 28
The most ridiculous example of this came from Venezuela where catching the coronavirus became a crime."Venezuela declares war on those infected with coronavirus" by Anataoly Kurmanaev, Isayen Herrera and Sheyla Urdanetta, The Irish Times 2020 August 19 heavily cracked down on anybody who committed the heinous crime of catching COVID. Returning migrant workers got the worst of the abuse, having been accused by Maduro of being part of a bizarre conspiracy to infect all of Venezuela with COVID-19 to bring down his GovernmentCovid-19 Forces 100,000 Venezuelan Migrants Back to Broken Country by John Otis, The Wall Street Journal 2020 August 30 This is not a joke.
===Actual death toll===
A rigorous (but not peer-reviewed) first analysis of actual death counts from COVID, as opposed to official death counts has been published covering the first year of the pandemic (March 2020-April 2021).Estimation of total mortality due to COVID-19 (May 6, 2021) Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington. The analysis was based on comparing excess mortality during the pandemic year vs. expected mortality. During this period, the total worldwide COVID-related deaths were estimated to be 6.93 million vs. the official tally of 3.24 million.
The United States had the highest total estimated COVID deaths of any country, 905,289 (vs. 574,043 reported). India was second with 654,395 estimated deaths, but the time period preceded India's catastrophic second wave.India’s Catastrophic Coronavirus Surge Highlights Global Vulnerabilities by Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder (May 3, 2021, at 5:12 p.m.) U.S. News & World Report.
The highest estimated death rates per 100,000 people however were overwhelmingly among former Eastern Bloc countries (18 of the top 20) with the addition of Mexico (493.9) and Peru (434.7). The former Eastern Bloc countries' estimated death rates were: Azerbaijan (648.8), Bosnia and Herzegovina (587.2), Bulgaria (544.5), Albania (525.7), North Macedonia (467.9), Belarus (459.6), Romania (455.6), Kazakhstan (444.2), Slovakia (427.6), Russian Federation (404.6), Lithuania (395.1), Poland (389.9), Czechia (386.8), Hungary (386.7), Moldova (377.6), Montenegro (338.1), Ukraine (314.5), and Latvia (312.6).
==The US partisan divide==
Two studies of COVID death rate differences between Republicans and Democrats found that Republicans were more likely to die than Democrats, mainly due to Republicans being less likely to be vaccinated.After vaccines became available, a partisan gap in deaths emerged by Philip Bump (October 3, 2022 at 4:20 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post. but also likely behavior differences such as being less likely to wear a mask or engage in social distancing. The first study found a correlation between higher COVID deaths in counties that voted for Trump vs. those that voted for Biden. That study also found that counties that voted for Trump at the highest rates also had the highest COVID death rates. A more precise analysis was conducted in 2022 that matched COVID deaths with 2017 political party affiliation in Florida and Ohio, showing that the finding held up on an individual basis, and that the difference continued to persist as late as December 2021 when the study data ended. The largest difference was in December 2021.Excess Death Rates for Republicans and Democrats During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Jacob Wallace et a. (September 2022) National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Paper 30512.
===Vaccine mandates===
There has been vocal opposition to vaccine mandates for COVID, typically from anti-vaxxers,Resistance to vaccine mandates is building. A powerful network is helping. A New York firm has filed suit or sent letters to employers in several states as part of an effort spearheaded by one of the largest anti-vaccination groups in the country. by Isaac Stanley-Becker (May 26, 2021 at 1:28 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post. and Republicans looking to score points with their political bases (former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz).Sen. Cruz Issues Statement on President Biden Imposing COVID Vaccine Mandates on Businesses U.S> Senator for Texas, Ted Cruz.
But mandates are:
# Legal in the United States, based on the statutory ability of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to regulate workplace safety,Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (August 13, 2021) Occupational Safety and Health Administration, United States Department of Labor. and employers' contractual ability to fire workers for causeVaccine Mandates Are Lawful, Effective and Based on Rock-Solid Science: Clear legal pathways exist to move the U.S. closer to herd immunity by Lawrence O. Gostin (August 5, 2021) Scientific American.
#Evidentially effective in coercing holdouts to get vaccinated, based on recent studiesThe evidence is building: Vaccine mandates work — and well by Aaron Blake (September 29, 2021).
Evidence that mandates are effective are that after mandates were announced vaccination rates went up to 98.5% among 67,000 United Airlines employees, the New York State hospital system employees went from 3/4 to 92%, Tyson Foods employees went from 50% to 80%.
An argument can be made that if one is working in the public service sector where there was public interaction (e.g., hospitals, police, and fire fighters) but refuses a safe vaccine then one is not actually acting in the service of the public.
==Socio-economic impacts==
The COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the global economy, reversing trends that were lasting for decades. The economic downturn caused by the pandemic was catastrophic, often being compared with the Great Depression, although, unlike the Great Depression, the recovery of the COVID-19 recession was much faster, with the global output surpassing the pre-pandemic levels already in 2021. The recovery was, nonetheless, uneven, and crisis led to a dramatic increase in inequality within and across countries, reversing a trend of substantial decline in income disparities. The pandemic also resulted in enormous job losses: in 2020 alone, almost 9 per cent of global working hours were simply destroyed when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, what is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs and about four times the number lost during the global financial crisis in 2009. As a result, 2020 saw the first increase in the global poverty in decades.
Following the most acute part of the pandemic, the world also saw a huge inflation surge caused by sharp increases in commodity prices and sectoral price spikes driven by a combination of pandemic-induced kinks in supply chains and a huge shift in demand during the pandemic to goods from services. Fiscal policy also contributed to the inflation, mostly through its effects on consumer demand for commodities and goods in limited supply. To counter this tremendous inflation, central banks around the world adopted a contractionary monetary policy, and interest rates skyrocketed, with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to highest levels in 22 years in 2023.
==See also==
*COVID-19 denialism
*COVID-19 vaccine
*Face masks
*Great Barrington Declaration, a pseudoscientific proposal for dealing with the pandemic
==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
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==Notes==
==References==
Category:Alternative medicine
Category:Antisemitism
Category:Anti-vaccination movement
Category:Biology
Category:Conspiracy theories
 
Category:Denialism
Category:Disease
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Category:Media hysteria
Category:Pseudoscience
Category:Racism
Category:Radiophobia
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Category:Viruses