Health experts have said that trials of 5G networks have no relation with the spread of COVID-19.
Social media platforms are once again abuzz with conspiracy theories around 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic.
One such claim asserts that the second wave of COVID-19 in India is due to the testing of 5G towers. The claim goes on to state that “just like the previous generation of mobile networks (4G) killed birds, the 5G network will cause the end of animals and humans”. The post asks people to protest against setting up of these towers.
However, we found that the claims made in the viral post are not backed by any evidence. 5G trials in India are in their early days and only small-scale tests have been conducted so far. Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health have said that there is no evidence linking the COVID-19 cases/deaths to 5G networks.

The text in the viral message, originally in Hindi claims that the second wave had risen due to the testing of 5G towers. It further alleges that the radiation from the tower makes the air poisonous and that’s why people are having trouble breathing.

Mobile phones transmit and receive radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) and what makes the 5G network faster than the previous generations of telecom networks is the use beam-forming technology, which lets different users to RF EMF frequencies without interference.

5G utilises higher EMF frequencies (>24 GHz) in addition to those currently used frequencies (<4 GHz).