A study found 10% of adults grappling with the mystery of how the coronavirus pandemic began believe it was “probably or definitely” created by the U.S. government.
Researchers with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania polled more than 1,000 people in March and found that 1 in 10 backed the unsupported theory that has been pushed by Chinese officials and rejected by U.S. officials.
The study looked at a variety of theories about the coronavirus, of which the earliest cases were found in a Wuhan, China, wet market late last year.
Nearly 1 in 5 respondents said it was “probably or definitely true” that some people at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were exaggerating the danger posed by the virus to damage the Trump presidency.
The study also showed a heightened belief that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, a claim that was first noted by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton in late February and is being scrutinized by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Twenty-three percent of respondents said it was “probably or definitely true” that the Chinese had created the virus as a bioweapon, which is a theory the United States has dismissed.
“Because both information and misinformation can affect behavior, we all ought be doing our part not only to increase essential knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, but also to interdict the spread of deceptions about its origins, prevention, and effects,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, wrote in a statement. “Additionally, all forms of media should ask, Are our audiences better prepared to deal with this coronavirus as a result of our work or is their trust in us endangering them and their communities?”
Some respondents also said elevated consumption of vitamin C could make a person immune to the coronavirus.
The study, which notes people who relied on conservative media or social media in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak were more likely to be misinformed, has a margin of error of 3.57 percentage points.
