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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 misinformation | 10/18 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== California herd immunity in 2019 === In March 2020, Victor Davis Hanson publicized a theory that COVID-19 may have been in California in the fall of 2019 resulting in a level of herd immunity to at least partially explain differences in infection rates in cities such as New York City vs Los Angeles. Jeff Smith of Santa Clara County stated that evidence indicated the virus may have been in California since December 2019. Early genetic and antibody analyses refute the idea that the virus was in the United States prior to January 2020.
=== Patient Zero === In March 2020, conspiracy theorists started the false rumor that Maatje Benassi, a US army reservist, was "Patient Zero" of the pandemic, the first person to be infected with COVID-19. Benassi was targeted because of her participation in the 2019 Military World Games at Wuhan before the pandemic started, even though she never tested positive for the virus. Conspiracy theorists even connected her family to the DJ Benny Benassi as a Benassi virus plot, even though they are not related and Benny had also not had the virus.
=== Airborne === Before mid-2021 the World Health Organization (WHO) denied that COVID readily spread through the air; although, they acknowledged such spread could occur during certain medical procedures as of July 2020. In February 2020 the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, initially stated COVID was airborne during a press conference, only to retract this statement a few minutes later. In March 2020 WHO tweeted "FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne." The air quality researcher Lidia Morawska viewed their initial position as "spreading misinformation". Hundreds of scientists, by mid 2020, viewed airborne spread as occurring and called on the WHO to change their position. Concerns were raised that "conservative voices" within the WHO committee tasked with these guidelines were preventing new evidence from being incorporated.
=== Surfaces === Early in the pandemic it was claimed that COVID-19 could be spread by contact with contaminated surfaces or fomites—even though this is an uncommon transmission route for other respiratory viruses. This led to recommendations that high-contact surfaces (like playground equipment or school desks) be frequently deep-cleaned and that certain items (like groceries or mailed packages) be disinfected. Ultimately, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that the likelihood of transmission under these scenarios was less than 1 in 10,000. They further concluded that handwashing reduced the risk of exposure to COVID-19, but surface disinfection did not.
=== Susceptibility based on ethnicity === There have been claims that specific ethnicities are more or less vulnerable to COVID-19. COVID-19 is a new zoonotic disease, so no population has yet had the time to develop population immunity. Beginning in February 2020, reports quickly spread via Facebook, implied that a Cameroonian student in China had been completely cured of the virus due to his African genetics. While a student was successfully treated, other media sources have indicated that no evidence implies Africans are more resistant to the virus and labeled such claims as false information. Kenyan Secretary of Health Mutahi Kagwe explicitly refuted rumors that "those with black skin cannot get coronavirus [disease 2019]", while announcing Kenya's first case in March. This false claim was cited as a contributing factor in the disproportionately high rates of infection and death observed among African Americans. There have been claims of "Indian immunity": that the people of India have more immunity to the COVID-19 virus due to living conditions in India. This idea was deemed "absolute drivel" by Anand Krishnan, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He said there was no population immunity to the COVID-19 virus yet, as it is new, and it is not even clear whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 will have lasting immunity, as this happens with some viruses but not with others. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the virus was genetically targeted at Iranians by the US, giving this explanation for the pandemic having seriously affected Iran. He did not offer any evidence. A group of Jordanian researchers published a report claiming that Arabs are less vulnerable to COVID-19 due to a genetic variation specific to those of Middle East heritage. This paper had not been debunked by November 2020.
==== Xenophobic blaming by ethnicity and religion ====
COVID-19-related xenophobic attacks have been made against individuals with the attacker blaming the victim for COVID-19 on the basis of the victim's ethnicity. People who are considered to look Chinese have been subjected to COVID-19-related verbal and physical attacks in many other countries, often by people accusing them of transmitting the virus. Within China, there has been discrimination (such as evictions and refusal of service in shops) against people from anywhere closer to Wuhan (where the pandemic started) and against anyone perceived as being non-Chinese (especially those considered African), as the Chinese government has blamed continuing cases on re-introductions of the virus from abroad (90% of reintroduced cases were by Chinese passport-holders). Neighbouring countries have also discriminated against people seen as Westerners. People have also simply blamed other local groups along the lines of pre-existing social tensions and divisions, sometimes citing reporting of COVID-19 cases within that group. For instance, Muslims have been widely blamed, shunned, and discriminated against in India (including some violent attacks), amid unfounded claims that Muslims are deliberately spreading COVID-19, and a Muslim event at which the disease did spread has received far more public attention than many similar events run by other groups and the government. White supremacist groups have blamed COVID-19 on non-whites and advocated deliberately infecting minorities they dislike, such as Jews.