By Hauwa Usman
A funny yet deadly allegation has emerged on the internet and social media platforms correlating the new Five Generation (5G) technology and the rampaging Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. According to the perpetrators of this rather disturbing news, Coronavirus has a root from radiations emitted from 5G facilities such as bus stations, masts etc.
Furthermore, Some took it upon themselves to give it a religious background backing their claims with the proposition that the 5G is part of the means the Antichrist merchant as mentioned in the Bible would be deploying in order to achieve a one-world-system (New World Order).
Some labeled Coronavirus as a scam, the largest one of global cover-up in history. According to this sect, when the 5G comes in connection with the body, it causes cell poisoning and the reaction on people’s body is what is known as radio spectrum radiation or radio frequency radiation.
These ridiculous claims have sent wrong signals to both countries that have deployed the revolutionary technology and those striving to do so. Nigeria is no exception as even renowned religious leaders have mounted the podium to back the assertions. Though yet to deploy the 5G in Nigeria, A trial test of the technology for a period of three months was approved on November 2019 by Nigerians Communications Commission (NCC) and on completion, the installment discontinued.
There is no scientific basis for the fallacious claim that the new 5G is responsible for the spread of COVID-19 as international bodies saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that such advancements do not pose threats to human health (e.g ICNIRP) alongside experts and scientist have affirmed that the 5G technology poses no threat to human health and as such debunked the claim that the 5G radiation emission is capable of causing pandemics such as Coronavirus because unlike Ultraviolet rays and Xrays that are ionizing and capable of damaging or altering the DNA in body cell, the radio waves of 5G are non-ionizing and as a result do not pose any health risk.
Interestingly, a good number of countries with incidence of COVID-19 mortality are yet to have 5G technology in commercial use. So far, only 34 countries have 5G networks while about 210 countries have Coronavirus. Sweden and Iran are few among countries that are yet to deploy the 5G network yet have cases of Coronavirus increasing at an alarming rate. Cities in the UK like Portsmouth and Milton Keynes also belong to this category. The first country to deploy 5G, South Korea did so in April 2019 seven months before China recorded the first case. China which launched the 5G network later in the year in October with Wuhan having the index case (Wuhan has not been proven to be the first city to deploy the 5G network in China) has a total of about 80,000 cases while the South Korea who took the lead in deploying 5G has a little above 10, 000 recorded cases of Coronavirus. Surprisingly, in China, there are cities with 5G that are not affected by the virus. In Africa, West Africa, Nigeria which is yet to roll out the new technology despite the trial test has recorded several cases of Coronavirus. Again, a number of countries in West Africa have several cases of the virus without even deploying the new generation technology.
COVID-19, a natural and not man-made virus, as affirmed by World Health Organization (WHO) does not travel on radio waves or mobile networks rather it spreads through respiratory droplet when an infected person cough, sneezes or speaks. People can also be infected by touching their eyes, mouth or nose after touching a contaminated surface.
It is pertinent to note that for every emerging technology to be deployed, there are organizations and standards set in place before authorizing its release. For instance in Nigeria, apart from the guidelines on telecommunication installations set by the Nigerian Communication Commission, the National Environment Standard Regulatory and Enforcement agency plays a critical role in ensuring safety of all Nigerians from environmental hazard through environmental impact assessment, which 5G has also gone through all these before been deployed.
In conclusion, it has been ascertained that the 5G has no connection with the Coronavirus disease or any confirmed health issues at the point of release. People are implored to disregard this or any other claim except where its emanate from NCDC and/or WHO as it is fake, irrational and would only increase the already built-up tension in people.
Hawau Usman can be reached through: hawauusmanbesse@gmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily
