False: The coronavirus outbreak is fake and what is happening in Wuhan is a huge mishap that the Chinese government had planned.

By: Aswathi K
June 16 2020

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The coronavirus outbreak being planned by the Chinese government is one of the conspiracies that have appeared regarding the pandemic.Guangzhou Municipality states that the origin of the coronavirus has not been found whereas the origin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has a similar gene sequence of the coronavirus was from the wild animals (bat). It added that most of the coronavirus positive cases in China were reported from the Huanan Seafood Market, where the selling and consumption of wild animals were done. (Check the question 'What is the infection source of novel coronavirus?' for explanation) The origin of the coronavirus family (SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV) could likely be from bats. It detailed that the origin of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China had been linked to the seafood and live animal market, which led to the spreading of virus from animal-to-person and then from person to person. The BBC article states that numerous conspiracies have appeared since the outbreak of the coronavirus about the origin, scale, and claims about dubious health advice have also been circulated in social media. The BBC article has mentioned that several false theories that have been spread globally about the virus since its outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.