This article explains “COVID-19 pandemic myths and reality. Coronavirus pandemic and different theories about its emergence. Is COVID-19 manmade or natural?”
COVID-19 Pandemic: Myths And Reality
According to a March 2020 report in The Guardian, the first known case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported in China on 17 November 2019—weeks before authorities officially acknowledged the new virus. Since then, the reporting of new cases has continued unabated worldwide. As of October 2020, the World Health Organization reported a total of 39.3 million COVID-19 cases globally. While the virus’s sudden appearance and its devastating impact on society, politics, and the economy have left people uncertain about their future, it has also sparked numerous speculations regarding its origins.
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Actions and statements by various organizations, countries, and their leaders have further fueled the controversy surrounding COVID-19. For example, in its annual review in February 2018 of the Blueprint list of priority diseases, the World Health Organization added an unknown disease labeled “Disease X.” Although the organization noted that this term could refer to any unforeseen disease or plague, its aim was to remind us to be mentally prepared for emerging health crises. In a similar vein, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in an address to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in January 2019, ordered his forces to prepare for an anticipated outbreak—referred to as “Black Swine.” Eleven months later, the first reported case of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. Many analysts have argued that this sequence of events cannot be a coincidence and have speculated that the President might have had prior knowledge of an impending pandemic.
Similarly, on 15 November, a YouTuber published a video on his channel “Thoughty2” discussing a disease strikingly similar to what the WHO later identified—all this occurring just two days before the first case was officially reported in China.
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Another factor that has added to the controversy is the release of the Hollywood movie Contagion in 2011. The film depicted a scenario in which a viral disease originating in China spreads rapidly, mirroring the symptoms and devastating effects on global health, economies, and politics that we see today.
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Furthermore, some people contend that COVID-19 was manufactured in a laboratory. They argue that its creation was intended to exploit the ensuing global economic downturn. Critics point to China’s ability to control the outbreak within six to eight months and claim that, with the pandemic behind it, the country is now leveraging the situation to strengthen its territorial claims—evidenced by its actions in Ladakh—and expand its economic ties.
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All of the above arguments remain speculative and have not been substantiated by concrete evidence. It is time for collective action against the pandemic, which has not only devastated our economy and health sector but also paralyzed our social life. One thing COVID-19 has made unequivocally clear is that our primary objective should be to safeguard public health rather than to emphasize military might.
Tags: COVID-19 pandemic myths and reality. Coronavirus pandemic and different theories about its emergence. Is COVID-19 manmade or natural? COVID-19 pandemic myths and reality. Coronavirus pandemic and different theories about its emergence. Is COVID-19 manmade or natural? COVID-19 pandemic myths and reality.
