You clicked on this article because you want to know the parallels. Maybe you've overlaid 5G maps, and seen that they correlate with coronavirus hotspots. Perhaps you watched that video going around Facebook, that claims 5G sucks oxygen out of the air and causing the virus to spread. Maybe you read about the connection somewhere online, and you can't get the question out of your head. To every theory, spouting that 5G causes coronavirus the answer is no.
There is nothing connecting new 5G mobile technologies and coronavirus apart from a range of half-baked conspiracies with similar themes. But why and how did two entirely unrelated topics end up with so much in common? Good question.
People are theorising that both 5G and COVID-19 have been developed for military use. 5G operates on the same wavelength as one experimental weapon in the US, and as such keyboard warriors are assuming that they are one in the same.
Yes mmWave frequencies, which are synonymous with 5G, were used in the Active Denial System as a ‘heat ray’ of sorts. However, the output used for transmitting on the frequency would only be able to raise skin temperature by 0.8 degrees. That’s not even mildly inconvenient, let alone military grade warfare.
5G towers are generally placed in population dense areas, and these areas also happened to be breeding grounds for a contagious virus. Overlaying maps of the two might make it seem like there is a connection, but correlation is not causation.
Hong Kong for example, saw their curve begin to flatten in early April after a surge of cases during March. Their 5G network? It went live on April 1st. Let's look at Monaco. The nation has had 5G network coverage since July 9th 2019, and consequently has only had 95 cases of the disease. In fact, between July 9th and February 28th, Monaco had nationwide 5G and zero cases of COVID-19.
If we look at Hong Kong and Monaco as examples, one could argue that 5G is actually helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. But we wouldn't say that. Because it is a baseless claim, stemming from limited data and not taking any other actions, like social distancing, population density, or healthcare into account. A coincidence in data does not prove a theory, either for or against 5G.
Terminology misunderstandings do, and will continue to perpetuate fear, regardless of the subject matter. And the threat of exposure to either of these will send people spiralling. Just like the anxiety about 3G and 4G that came before, concerns about 5G are the latest iteration of headlines about the dangers of electromagnetic radiation.
The radiation emitted by mobile devices, including 5G and mmWave tech, is more akin to a microwave than to Chernobyl. As author C. Stuart Hardwick so eloquently put it, “radiation isn’t magic death cooties". Buzz words like ‘radiation’ will cause panic, purely because of the lack of understanding around the topic.
Similarly, the ‘quarantine’ procedures taken when approaching coronavirus are likely to cause undue alarm. Tell someone you are being ‘quarantined’ and watch the fear spread through their body. However if we can understand that ‘quarantine’ is for healthy individuals, while ‘isolation’ is for those who are infected, then we might be able to get a better perspective.
Scrolling through the pseudo-scientific hypothesise, the amount of similarities between coronavirus and 5G conspiracies are staggering. You’re probably still wondering why there is so much common ground between the two, that’s because they do have one thing that joins them.
I could quote at least ten writers, leaders, and philosophers who all say the same thing, “we fear what we don’t understand”. For us to think that 5G, and coronavirus are immune to the infection of fear would be naive, at the very best.
When we are threatened, we respond one of two ways - fight, or flight. Any new technology, breakthrough, or discovery inherently threatens the status quo, and leads us to decide for ourselves. What should we do? Do we ignore it, or do we put up our fists (or fingertips) and rally against this new enemy?
Fear will guide us to do things outside of our rational minds, like setting 5G towers on fire, or protesting a lock down that is purely in place to keep us safe.
Once the dust masks settle, and our phones get faster you’d think that the problem would be a thing of the past. A warning perhaps, of how fear can penetrate our fragile society. And yet realistically, the infection will continue to taint us for years to come.
International panic will have side effects, it will create new streams, immune to the medicines we used to quell it in the past. There will only be so many times that mobile phone manufacturers will be able to tell their customers that the products coming from China are safe.
The ripple effect of cancelled tech events across the globe will push out to the edge of the petri dish. Big providers will recover, but smaller exhibitors and developers might not be able to recoup the financial damage and will retreat back to the corners from whence they came.
As we lose the startups and the competition lessens, will Apple and Samsung’s monopoly cause our devices to get more expensive still? Will innovation grind to a halt as we lose small developers to the aftermath of the coronavirus?
While we are busy watching the world for changes from the coronavirus and 5G in front of our eyes, our fears are busy changing the world behind our backs.
This article has been edited since it's initial publication, taking the developing situation and changing information into account.
A note on health and safety
We value the health and safety of our readers, especially in this trying time across the globe.
The World Health Organisation's current recommendations for protecting yourself against coronavirus or COVID-19 are to;
- Wash your hands frequently
- Maintain at least 1.5 meters distance between yourself and others
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
Stay safe.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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