5G installations and fully functioning hospitals are being hit the hardest online during this COVID-19 lockdown with conspiracies that will make you shake your head until it hurts.

Dozens of videos have been spreading on social media over the past couple of weeks using the hashtag #FilmYourHospital. I’ve seen them and I choose not to take part because (1) I don’t push conspiracies until I have researched and have facts; (2) I teach my children to be responsible and respectful.

Individuals knowingly and unknowingly are pushing conspiracies that the COVID-19 pandemic is fake and that the complete lockdown is a way to clear the streets and neighborhoods so that 5G towers can be installed. Some have even gone to the extreme of taking and posting videos of quiet scenes outside hospitals claiming that there is no emergency.

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Other conspiracies include fear-mongering media outlets are intentionally exaggerating COVID-19’s deadly toll.

None of this can be proven, but one thing we know, COVID-19 misinformation, is a poisonous threat that is dangerous for those who are infected by this virus.

On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General, urged social media organizations to do more to counter it. Social media platforms say they are trying to stop the spread of coronavirus hoaxes and connect users with reliable information.

DeAnna Lorraine, a California Republican who challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unsuccessfully, posted a video taken outside a Los Angeles-area hospital telling her followers to make the hashtag viral. Her video was shared on March 29, accumulating 1.4 million views.

Not soon after, another copycat video about empty parking lots and vacant tents was posted about the University Medical Center Tucson in Arizona. “We should be picketing in protest of this hoax!” the user tweeted.

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REASON FOR QUIET HOSPITAL EXTERIORS

A hospital official said the reason why you don’t see a lot of movement outside these medical centers is that (1) they are NOT allowing visitors; (2) have furloughed nonessential employees; (3) canceled elective procedures; and (4) stopped using the tents to test outpatients with mild virus symptoms.

Dr. Christian Bime, medical director of the intensive care unit at the Tucson hospital, said he had treated approximately 20 COVID-19 patients, some of whom have died. “This is not a hoax. This is real. These are real patients who have real families,” he said.

A Mount Sinai Hospital spokeswoman says their lobby appeared empty in the video because they have also barred visitors.

Dr. David Reich, president of Mount Sinai Queens and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, said, “It’s very sad because I’m working with a team of thousands of people who are putting their lives at risk. They are struggling every day to provide the best care they can in horrendous conditions.”

I feel sorry for these workers because people on social media are trying to push fake news and false information because they think they need something to latch onto, and the truth is too hard to swallow. My family has taken this thing seriously from the very beginning.

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I have trusted the Trump administration and their every move to secure this virus and contain it. Still, there are too many individuals who want the country to open back up without safeguards in place, which means many more people are going to get hurt in the process.

I have seen many on the political right push conspiracies of late, and I ashamed because I thought our side was better, more mature. I would have thought they would be the ones with heads of calm, but it’s not the case. People have died, and right-wing social media accounts have dismissed them tragically, claiming that this isn’t as bad as “the flu.”

This has nothing to do with the flu, but logical voices are getting mixed up and lost in a sea of conspiracies. Hopefully, cooler heads prevail before it’s too late.

 

 

This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on April 18, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.

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Report: Michigan Governor Caves to Pressure and Protest, Says She’ll Reopen State May 1st
Report: Four Michigan Sheriffs Just Defied Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

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