As the number of confirmed hantavirus cases from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius reaches 9, social media users firmly revived Covid-19 era conspiracy theories of “bioweapons” and “plandemics,” making the online rhetoric feel eerily familiar. Among these resurrected theories, the name of American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has once again emerged.
Bill Gates again? It’s like people never learn – last time it was 5G towers, now hantavirus from a cruise ship. The guy funds vaccine research, not bioweapons.
So 9 people got sick on the MV Hondius, and somehow that’s a ‘plandemic’? The conspiracy crowd really needs to get a hobby.
I’m no fan of Gates, but blaming him for a hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship is just lazy. Hantavirus has been around forever – it’s not some new bioweapon.
Interesting how these theories pop up right when we’re trying to recover from COVID. Feels like a coordinated effort to undermine public trust in science.
Mental health services remain the neglected cousin of physical healthcare. (62ac9c)