Are conspiracy theories harming efforts to combat COVID-19 in Australia?

This appeared in The Millennial Source

In Australia, coronavirus cases are starting to rise more rapidly since tapering off in April. The country has seen just over 9,000 confirmed cases and 106 people have died. Although the country’s case number is far lower than places like the United States, the recent jump has nevertheless been significant.

Over the past week, new daily cases have consistently reached at least 100. By contrast, from May to early June, new daily cases were mostly kept at or below 20. In response to the uptick, Melbourne, a city that has become a local hot spot, reinstated its lockdown.

191 new cases were confirmed on July 7 in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, representing the largest single-day increase thus far in the state.

Victoria’s State Premier, Daniel Andrews, subsequently closed the state’s borders and told residents to stay home for the next six weeks.

“We are on the cusp of something very, very bad if we don’t take these steps,” Andrews said.

Despite the official warnings, however, there have been mixed reactions to the continued threat of the virus. While many people are heeding the government’s advice, others are promoting conspiracy theories that allege the virus is a hoax.

Reports indicate that as many as 10,000 people in Melbourne alone have refused coronavirus testing. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said conspiracies could be a part of the reason why some are forgoing testing.

A spokesperson from Australia’s Health Department later suggested that there was no direct evidence that conspiracies were the reason why some had refused tests, but admitted that they were “still analysing the data” for why certain people had declined to be tested.

“Willful blindness”

Speaking with The Millennial Source, several Melbourne residents had strong words for those who flouted the government’s safety measures.

“The belief that COVID doesn’t exist is founded not from factual evidence but rather from a place of willful blindness, privilege and downright stupidity,” one resident, who preferred to remain…