Britain that is grappling with the spread of the highly contagious pandemic that has so far has claimed close to 14,000 lives and infected 1,03,093 with COVID 19, has also been fighting a major disinformation campaign in the form of the 5G coronavirus conspiracy.
The false claims that have connected the spread of the deadly coronavirus (COVID 19) with the 5G mobile technology are now proving to be dangerous as in the last few weeks, at least 39 telecom engineers have been attacked and 50 mobile towers have been damaged by angry UK residents.
The British multinational telecommunications, BT Group plc, has been at the receiving end of this misinformation that has caused the company heavy losses.
BT chief executive Philip Jansen, who himself is recovering from mild symptoms of coronavirus, said the situation was beyond anything imaginable considering how the telecom engineers were being attacked by misinformed people who believe that the new 5G network was causing the spread of COVID 19 and suppresses one's immune system.
Janson, who wrote in the Mail on Sunday said: "11 of our mobile masts have been destroyed or damaged through arson – and 33 across all operators in the UK so far.
"That may not sound a lot, but if the site that provides coverage to your house gets burned down, it matters.
"Everything about this is senseless. There's no thought for the validity of the theories – many openly contradict themselves; all ignore the very basic principles of science."
As per ground reports, over 50 cell towers in the UK till now have been vandalized by miffed locals in Birmingham, Liverpool, and Merseyside. Mobile masts belonging to major telecom companies Vodafone, EE, and BT have been vandalized. The angry locals in several localities even vandalized 4G mobile towers and fixed landlines poles.
There are several 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories that are doing the rounds. It all began last month after a video filmed at a US health conference claimed the reason that Africa has not been severely affected by the disease was that it was "not a 5G region".
Soon after that keyboard warriors began sharing speculation the novel coronavirus (COVID 19), which first appeared in the city of Wuhan in China, happened soon after the rollout of 5G mobile technology. The contagious virus then spread to other cities in China where 5G was being rolled out.
Many 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory believers even shared videos claiming to be from Wuhan and Hong Kong that shows the local authorities taking out the 5G towers from the cities to stop the spread of coronavirus.
