There are many videos on the Internet in which people fall from the coronavirus, mainly in Asia, China. Later, similar videos appeared from Russia and Europe, as it turned out later, falsified. To verify the authenticity of such footage, to refute or confirm information about fakes, the situation was repeatedly commented on by leading Hong Kong virologists, experts in the field of disaster medicine, and government officials at the local and state levels.
Why are people falling from the coronavirus?
Numerous videos from social networks show that people fall right in public places, queues at supermarkets, public transport stops, metro stations, and clinics. If a person has fallen on the street, other people are afraid to come up and help because of the fear of infection.
What are the symptoms of a fall?
- convulsions, spasms of skeletal muscles;
- hyperemia of the skin, provoked by high temperature (with a normal syncope, the skin is pale, cold sweat appears);
- disorientation in space, blurred vision;
- general weakness, "cotton" legs;
- semi-consciousness, partial or complete loss of consciousness.
Theoretically, medical science finds an explanation for this condition. In people with coronavirus who do not receive quality treatment, the viral infection is rapidly complicated by SARS. Progressive damage to the lower respiratory tract leads to a violation of the gas exchange function of the lungs.
Hyperthermia causes hepatization (hardening) of the lung parenchyma. Alveoli (a structural unit of the lung where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged) are filled with blood, serous fluid, and pus. Physiological ventilation is disturbed, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the body increases, oxygen starvation develops at the cellular level.
Hypoxia leads to limited blood supply to the brain. Against the background of changes in the dynamics of blood flow, pathological changes in the vessels can occur. During physical exertion (climbing stairs), long downtime in queues, a sharp change in body position, a person can lose consciousness and fall.
What was in the video, right?
Every video showing people falling from the coronavirus needs to be analyzed and verified for authenticity. Patients with a viral infection really lose consciousness from impotence and high intoxication of the body. Such cases arose when the epidemic was just spreading across China, and virologists had not yet determined the genotype of the virus, and doctors found it difficult to make a correct diagnosis.
The situation was brought under control by the Chinese health authorities on January 10, 2020, when scientists were able to decipher the genome of the new virus. From that moment, active work began to identify infected people at the initial stage of the development of the disease. Thus, it was possible to reduce the number of patients with complications due to the rapid provision of first aid. Cases of loss of consciousness in people with coronavirus have been reduced to zero.
Over time, videos began to appear not only from China, but also from other countries, which recorded a sudden fall of people with coronavirus. Later, after a journalistic investigation, the media denied these facts.
Was the fall of infected people massive?
There is no information that infected people fall en masse in public places. Some videos show overcrowded hospitals, where patients are massively unconscious not only on beds, but also on the floor in the corridors. Later, the information that these were people with coronavirus was not confirmed. Any programs, articles on this topic are considered fake.
Since January 2020, when there was an understanding of the seriousness and danger of the epidemic, the Chinese authorities have taken unprecedented quarantine measures. Any mass gatherings, meetings are prohibited, events, educational processes are canceled, public transport is suspended.
Therefore, the likelihood of a massive drop in patients with coronavirus is nothing more than a panic whipped up on forums, social networks, and video hosting sites.
What is happening there now?
Today, the situation with coronavirus in China is under control. According to the latest statistics, the number of people infected with the infection every day is on the decline. At the same time, videos continue to appear on the Internet in which people fall dead.
To escalate the psychological situation, videos from neuropsychiatric dispensaries were uploaded to the Internet, in which the patient falls and beats in convulsions or an epileptic seizure. The video came out with the headline about the coronavirus.
Pranksters joined the game with fakes, putting on medical masks and simulating a fall, loss of consciousness in public transport and other crowded places. Their accomplices recorded an increase in panic fear among the people around them and their reaction. The video was then posted on YouTube.
In order to stop the panic among the population, cybersecurity units were thrown into the fight against Internet scammers. Caring citizens also help to identify falsification. News channels have actively turned on, where they explain in detail in what cases a person can lose consciousness, and expose false information.
In China, fakes on the basis of the spreading coronavirus pandemic have been equated with fraudulent activities. The legislature has taken strict measures to identify and punish such criminals. For false information about the disease and the degree of danger, the creation of fake videos is charged with fraud with imprisonment from 3 to 7 years.
In the city of Wuhan, which became the epicenter of the events, all temporary hospitals and first aid stations have already been closed today. Treatment of patients with coronavirus infection is carried out in regular public hospitals.