An Instagram user has posted a video, which has since been viewed 64,000 times, in which she makes a series of allegations about COVID-19, including describing it as laboratory manufacturing, saying that no bus drivers or police officers died from the virus is not. A number of these claims are wholly or partly false. This check will examine some of these claims.
Claim 1: COVID-19 is patented by Bill Gates and the SARS-Cov-2 virus that caused it to be manufactured (time code 2.03 here).
Bill Gates did not patent COVID-19 or a COVID-19 vaccine. Reuters has checked this claim before (here, here).
The claim that the virus was produced is denied by experts, who believe that it was transmitted from animals to humans. The World Health Organization says ‘all available evidence’ indicates that the virus is a ‘zoonotic source’ (here).
Claim 2: No police personnel, bus drivers, delivery drivers or shop workers died due to COVID-19 (time code 6.32).
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) data up to 25 May, 16 deaths of police officers involving COVID-19 were recorded in England and Wales (here).
The same data shows that dozens of retailers and drivers (couriers in the data set) died due to the virus, as well as 54 bus drivers. Transport for London said it would review the deaths among London bus workers (here).
Claim 3: PCR tests can even detect colds, and therefore people test positive, even if they have no symptoms (time code 8.11).
This is not correct. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are specific as they work to detect the RNA found in SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 (here, here, here). People can be positive for COVID-19, even if they show no symptoms, but the common cold does not register colds as COVID-19.
Claim 4: Media stores now use the word coronavirus, rather than calling it COVID (time code 9.54).
This statement is false. Reuters, in line with other global media, uses the term COVID-19 to refer to the disease caused by the new coronavirus while reporting on the subject. The Reuters COVID-19 global tracker is visible here.
Claim 5: There have been no flu deaths since March 28 (time code 10.20).
This claim is incorrect. Statistics from the ONS, published on 2 September 2020, examine deaths due to COVID-19 from 28 December 2019 to 10 July 2020. ‘Influenza and pneumonia’ are plotted on a graph showing ‘main causes of death’ (tinyurl.com/ yy7jpdy6).
The ONS release states: “Influenza and pneumonia deaths were lower than the five-year average earlier in the year, probably due to the relatively mild winter and low levels of circulating flu. After a brief increase in weeks 11 to 18, levels for this time of year are again slightly below average, although it is no longer the season for winter flu “(tinyurl.com/y2tbeh5q).
Claim 6: At least 16,000 people died due to lock-in (time code 11.55).
This claim is partially true, but the figure is an estimate for 12 months from March 2020. According to US, 16,000 excess deaths are estimated due to changes in emergency and social care (here).
Claim 7: The pandemic was not proven because the virus was not isolated or proven (time code 12.30).
This assertion is also false. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus was identified by Chinese authorities on January 7, 2020 (tinyurl.com/y5at3vke). It has since been studied by numerous researchers worldwide, of which only a few are referred to below.
VERDICT
Untrue. This video contains a mix of claims and opinions. Several of the key allegations regarding the nature and impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are false.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.