A Facebook video taken live on December 1 and viewed more than 6,000 times shows the speaker claiming that the coronavirus pandemic is a scam, that pneumonia is not linked to COVID-19 and that a vaccine against the new coronavirus will deliver a microchip to the recipient. . These statements are false.
The video (here) is over an hour long and contains a mix of allegations, anecdotes and opinions. This article addresses some of the primary claims, but others made by the speaker fall outside the scope of this check.
Claim one: COVID-19 is a scam
The man repeatedly tells viewers that the coronavirus pandemic is not real. He says, “This is a deceit, every one is deceived” (12:10) and “This is all wrong. I know I’m continuing on old ground, but it has to be said. This is a joke; it is a scam ”(15:22).
Reuters Fact Check has repeatedly denied false allegations that COVID-19 is a hoax. More than 63 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1 million deaths were reported to the World Health Organization on December 2 (covid19.who.int/).
Claim two: pneumonia not linked to COVID-19
The speaker says: ‘Someone told me the other day that my uncle has severe pneumonia. She immediately stamped it. I mean, I’m very sorry to hear that her uncle is in the hospital with pneumonia, but it’s not a joint pneumonia. I said to her: if your uncle broke his leg, would you call it a broken leg? ‘(skip to 17:48).
This is not an accurate statement. COVID-19 can cause pneumonia; it cannot cause a broken bone.
The NHS website defines pneumonia as “swelling (inflammation) of the tissue in one or both lungs. It is usually caused by a bacterial infection. It can also be caused by a virus, such as coronavirus (COVID-19) ”(here).
John Hopkins University, in the northeastern state of Maryland, explains: “COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, can cause lung complications such as pneumonia.
‘In pneumonia, the lungs become filled with fluid and inflamed, leading to breathing problems. For some people, breathing problems can be serious enough to treat oxygen or even a ventilator in the hospital ”(here)
Claim three: the coronavirus vaccine contains a microchip
The man discussed the vaccine for COVID-19 and told the camera: ‘It’s like a chip to control us and it’s around the corner, this is what’s going to be in the vaccine, they’re going to chip us’ (19 : 15)).
There is no evidence to support this assertion. Vaccinations are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases (here), they are not used to control people via microchips.
There are many different COVID-19 vaccines in the final stage trials around the world, including those produced by AstraZeneca and Pfizer (here). No one mentions the inclusion of microchips.
Reuters has dismissed similar false allegations about the COVID-19 vaccine here, here and here.
Claim four: Scientists have not isolated the new coronavirus
At the end of the video, the speaker adds: ‘People are afraid of this virus that does not even exist. People keep saying that it has been isolated through requests for freedom of information. No, it is not, no one has proved that it exists ”(54:52).
This claim is untrue: the SARS-CoV2-2 virus has been identified and studied by scientists worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes COVID-19 disease (here). The virus was identified by Chinese authorities on January 7, 2020 (here). It has since been studied by numerous researchers worldwide, of which only a few are referred to below.
Reuters addressed this false claim earlier here.
VERDICT
Untrue. The virus that causes COVID-19 has been identified and the pandemic is real. The disease can cause pneumonia. There is no evidence that a vaccine against the virus will contain a microchip.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.