[imagesource: Getty]

The tinfoil hats are out in full force as the pandemic continues.

This isn’t surprising. People try to make sense of the world when the world doesn’t make sense, and unfortunately, there are those out there who insist on doing so by coming up with wild theories.

The problem with all of this is that it isn’t just a few trolls with a warped view of the world sharing conspiracy theories in chat forums.

Almost half of Republican voters in the US seem to believe that Bill Gates, who has been injecting massive funds and resources into trying to find a COVID-19 vaccine, is only doing so because he wants to implant tracking devices in people.

I had to sit down after reading that.

He has also been accused of creating the virus – more on that in a bit. Let’s address this ridiculousness one conspiracy theory at a time.

(As an aside, John Oliver’s recent episode on COVID-19 conspiracy theories is also worth a watch.)

Here’s MarketWatch:

Gates…dismissed the false theory [about tracking devices] in the past, but the believers are sticking with it.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide climbed above 15 million on Thursday and the U.S. case tally edged closer to 4 million, as California’s case tally rose above New York’s, the early U.S. virus hotspot, following a surge in new infections in recent weeks.

In other words, is this really the time to spread misinformation? It’s never the time to spread misinformation, and yet, this seems to be one of the darkest consequences of social media and access to ‘information’.

Most don’t seem to take the time to sift through what is and isn’t fact, in favour of Karen’s post on Facebook.

Gates, who really shouldn’t have to respond to something this silly, nevertheless did, with this statement:

“I hope it’ll die down as people get the facts. We need to get the truth out there.”

“There’s no connection between any of these vaccines and any tracking type thing at all,” Gates told CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell Wednesday. “I don’t know where that came from.”

He also responded to the Idiot-In-Chief’s most recent hyperbolic statement about America and the virus:

He explained that President Trump’s recent assertion that the U.S. has one of the lowest mortality rates in the world is not even close to accurate.

“I mean, by almost every measure, the U.S. is one of the worst and I think we can change that, but it’s an ugly picture,” Gates said.

“We actually had criteria for opening up that said you had to have cases declining and we opened up with cases increasing. We somehow got masks as this politicized thing … and some like, harbinger of freedom, that just covering your mouth was awful.”

Head here for a compilation of videos documenting angry Americans refusing to cover their mouths.

The full interview is below, and worth a watch in its entirety. Gates is one of the few clear-minded individuals injecting a little sanity and rationality into the chaos of the pandemic and its ever-churning rumour mill.

You’ll find Gates’ straight-forward response to Donald Trump’s claim the 10:34 mark. At the 13:42 mark, he discusses vaccines and how we’ll know if they’re working as trials continue.

To see his response to conspiracy theories, skip to the 23:37 mark:

In a CNN Town Hall interview, reports EWN, Gates again responded to rumours that he created the virus to add some extra cash to his billions through a vaccine.

Gates pushed back against some of the conspiracy theories spreading online accusing him of creating the coronavirus outbreak.

“It’s a bad combination of pandemic and social media and people looking for a very simple explanation,” the Microsoft founder said.

…A number of accusations, including posts claiming that the FBI arrested Gates for biological terrorism or that he supports a Western plot to poison Africans, share a common thread.

They accuse the tycoon of exploiting the crisis, whether it is to “control people” or make money from selling vaccines.

Urgh, people need to be stopped.

Poor guy. He’s just trying to help.

[source:marketwatch&ewn]