The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has dismissed as false reports linking the Fifth Generation (5G) wireless mobile phone technology to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
POTRAZ said in a statement there is no scientific basis nor real evidence backing the “conspiracy theory”. The statement read in part:
POTRAZ, as a science-based statutory body with responsibility for the safe and orderly rollout of telecommunication networks in Zimbabwe, would like to make it clear to the citizenry and public at large, that the purported link between 5G and COVID-19 is a falsehood, which has no scientific basis nor real evidence backing it.
Even outside the scientific realm, evidence abounds that many countries, Zimbabwe included, which are yet to roll out 5G are heavily afflicted by the pandemic, while some countries with 5G have very few if any confirmed cases.
5G, or Fifth Generation, is the latest wireless mobile phone technology, first widely deployed in 2019.
5G is expected to increase performance and a wide range of new applications, including strengthening e-Health (telemedicine, remote surveillance, telesurgery).
COVID-19 has to date, infected 2 208 217 across the world, while there have been 148 725 deaths and 558 620 recoveries.
