Can UV light kill a virus?

Supporters of US President Donald Trump have taken to social media to defend his musings that "powerful light" and disinfectant could possibly be used to kill the novel coronavirus inside human bodies.

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This Facebook post, which makes claims about "internal disinfectant" has been debunked.(Supplied)

One such Facebook post claims that when Mr Trump talked of internal disinfectant, he was referring to "Ultraviolet Radiation" administered into the body. According to the post, the method kills bacteria and has been "used for a while now".

"Just because it’s called a 'disinfectant' doesn’t mean it’s Pine-Sol," the post states.

PolitiFact found that while the post may be referring to a treatment called "ultraviolet blood irradiation", used mainly in the alternative-medicine community, there was no evidence such treatments could kill viruses or bacteria.

I would take the time to explain that cartoon to you, but you'd simply hear what you wanted to hear (here's a hint: the blue characters are Leftists. Any red characters represent conservatives.)

Anyway, drink deeply from the well of uninformed arrogance. . .

 

I'm quite sure that meme wasn't created by you but it's a failed one. The name is Paul McCartney, not MacCartney. Misspelling his last name ruins the joke.

Just to let you know...

That's not what Frank McZappa told me . . .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&v=nwR9pZ74j8Q&feature=emb_logo

It is a shame you do not understand how cruel that meme is.

Why do coronavirus sceptics and deniers continue to downplay the disease?

Coronavirus has killed more than 200,000 people, shut down global economies, left millions of people out of work, and had drastic impacts on daily life.

Key points:

• Coronavirus scepticism cuts across the political spectrum, and is evident on both the left and the right
• It has prompted political rallies and is widespread on social media and online
• Experts say it is being driven by factors including fear and ignorance, and is frequently politicised

But a sizeable minority across the world continues to insist the threat is overblown.

In videos circulating online, on social media pages, at US political rallies and sometimes in the mainstream media, doubts about the severity of the disease continue to be expressed by coronavirus sceptics, naysayers and deniers.

"More than a few politicians and millions of citizens still don't believe [the coronavirus pandemic] is happening," University of Sydney politics professor John Keane wrote recently.

"Dogged in their stupidity, thinking only of themselves, they are sure that it's all a hoax, or a media-hyped exaggeration whose falsity will soon be exposed."

Fake news and misinformation have spread as fast and as far as the virus itself, infecting social media newsfeeds across the world.

While those obsessed with 5G and bioweapon conspiracy theories have been vocal, they are by no means the only ones advocating views contrary to the scientific consensus surrounding the virus.

Continued...

Who is downplaying it, and why?

Coronavirus scepticism has cut across the political spectrum, and can be found among those of conservative and progressive political persuasions.

University of Adelaide political expert Carol Johnson said while some left-wing civil libertarians opposed to the lockdowns had questioned the severity of the virus, the strongest opposition has come from the political right.

Professor Johnson said the global response to the pandemic had accorded well with the pre-existing beliefs of some fringe political groups "who see it as an infringement of their individual liberties".

"For example, right-wing groups who believe everything is a conspiracy by government, and big government is trying to intrude into our lives — basically they interpret the coronavirus in terms of that," she said.

Professor Johnson said it was likely that many climate change deniers had now morphed into coronavirus deniers.

"It is often related, in terms of those groups, to the anti-science argument, [and] there could be links to anti-vaxxers as well," she said.

"There's also a general distrust of science and experts who are seen as elitists who are out of touch with the needs of ordinary people."

University of Queensland virologist Ian Mackay agreed that those denying the seriousness of the virus had a similar perspective to anti-vaxxers.

"It does seem to be the same kind of mindset that will deny vaccines work, that will embrace treatments that clearly don't work for diseases and that will deny that the earth is round and that the moon landing happened," Associate Professor Mackay said.

"They are the kind of person who isn't happy with [what] they are told by experts and prefer to go and seek their own narrative."

Continued