Warning as health myths go viral

Conspiracy theories

GEELONG residents have been warned against notes dropped in letterboxes across the city touting COVID-19 “conspiracy theories”.

A flyer seen by the Geelong Advertiser had been in mailboxes across Geelong West and Mt Duneed proclaiming Australians had been “tricked” about COVID-19.

Among the accusations were claims the virus was “no worse than the annual influenza” due to death rates being lower than that of the country’s annual flu season.

Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said many lives had been saved because of the lockdown.

“If you look at countries that enacted lockdown measures too late, they have up to 100 times the death rate of Australia,” she said. “In that sense, it’s a false argument because social distancing and lockdown restrictions stopped us from getting there,” Professor Bennett said.

Other claims included unfounded allegations that the quest for a vaccine was being pushed because of the “financial interest” of groups including people such as former Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

It comes weeks after demonstrators were arrested for violating social distancing restrictions at an anti-lockdown protest.

Prof Bennett said restrictions, while tough, were necessary because of the way the virus was easily transmitted from person to person.

“COVID-19 is highly transmissible,” she said. “On average, one person infects another three. But often if there’s no restriction in place we see one person infect another 30.”

Her calls were backed by University of Melbourne epidemiology professor John Mathews.

“Precautions and the co-operation of the population has left us in a good place,” Prof Mathews said.

“We’re in a situation where the Government is able to gradually relax the lockdown, but we need the co-operation of the population to make sure the situation isn’t repeated.”

A Geelong West resident who received the flyer but asked to remain anonymous said she hadn’t taken the claims too seriously.

“It was interesting. We both thought it was a joke at first,” she said. “But as we read it, we started to realise the person dropping the letter thought that what they were writing was the truth.”