Last week, I hosted the State of 5G Summit. I wanted to share with readers what I’m seeing with the 5G wireless rollout and how COVID-19 is highlighting the need for 5G wireless technology.
More than 17,000 investors attended the event, and I received nearly 2,000 questions and comments from the summit attendees.
Now, obviously, I can’t answer every one of these. But I wanted to answer some of the most common questions I received.
A common question I received from viewers was whether 5G technology caused COVID-19. Here’s one from M.L.:
Hi, Jeff. What are your thoughts on the potential 5G health effects many people are concerned about? I understand it’s a controversial topic but is very important in my eyes. Thanks.
I was recently a guest on Glenn Beck’s radio show to discuss this very topic. As Glenn pointed out, the most recent conspiracy theory floating around social media is that 5G might be causing COVID-19.
The idea is that 5G might be damaging our immune systems, and therefore, people are becoming susceptible to COVID-19.
For readers who missed that interview, you can listen to it right here. But I’ll tell you what I told Glenn and his listeners: This is crazy.
All wireless networks – including 5G wireless networks – emit what’s known as non-ionizing radiation. We have been exposed to this kind of radiation our entire lives. It’s all around us.
Here’s the important point: Non-ionizing radiation does not damage our DNA or our cell tissue in any way. Not at all.
And yes, these 5G towers do operate at high power. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifies what power level is safe for the human body. And the current regulations – that these 5G network operators must adhere to – have a 50-fold safety margin.
In other words, there’s a tremendous amount of cushion.
These sorts of conspiracy theories always show up every time the world rolls out new technology. As Glenn pointed out, this sort of panic happened with radio technology, television broadcasting, and then early cell towers.
With every successive generation, there is some conspiracy theory telling people to panic. They last for 12–18 months, then they go away.
But they always seem to come back when a new generation of technology is being rolled out. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re having this same conversation around 6G when it’s rolled out about 10 years from now.
So to avoid confusion: 5G wireless technology does not affect the spread of COVID-19 whatsoever. It does not damage our immune system. Nor did it cause the coronavirus mutation in Wuhan in the first place.
If you want to watch my full Q&A about the impact 5G will have on society, click here to watch the replay.
Now, on to some incredible news…
New Data About Coronavirus
Justin Silverman and Alex Washburne just published new research that uses one of the smartest, data-driven approaches to determining how widely COVID-19 has spread during the last several months.
What was so smart about their approach? They analyzed the number of “non-flu influenza-like illnesses” this winter season compared to the median between 2010 and 2019.
Put more simply, they calculated how many more people sought health care for an illness that wasn’t the flu but had all the symptoms of COVID-19. Here is an example of what they found:
In New Jersey, the second most affected state in the U.S., the non-flu illnesses spiked from the “normal” percent of visits to health care providers (around 2%) to around 16% of visits. And even in Oklahoma, which “officially” has only about 2,000 cases, we see a very similar pattern.
So why the discrepancy?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA were bottlenecks for testing from November through March.
Most of these people had conditions that did not require hospitalization, and they were never tested for what they likely had… COVID-19.
And look at this:
The correlation in the above graph is remarkable. The vertical axis displays the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people (on a logarithmic scale). The horizontal axis represents the increase in the “non-flu influenza-like illnesses.”
Simply put, there is a direct relationship in the spikes of “non-flu influenza-like illnesses” and the confirmed cases of COVID-19. And the only reason for the difference is the lack of testing for COVID-19.
Here is why this is great news…
Just between March 8 and March 28 alone, it is highly likely that there were about 23 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. That’s how many more cases of non-flu influenza-like illnesses there were above the baseline for a normal season.
For perspective, at the time of the research, that was more than 200 times the number of confirmed cases… 200 times!
The research goes one step further to demonstrate that about 7 million Americans were likely infected with COVID-19 during the week of March 8 to March 14. There were 7,000 deaths three weeks later (high-risk victims with COVID-19 tend to die in 20–25 days).
That is a fatality rate of 0.1%, on par with seasonal influenza. This is nowhere near the 2–4% fatality rates that others would have us believe.
These numbers don’t even include the number of asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 who don’t seek any medical help. That means the real fatality rate is far lower.
This data supports my earlier projections that COVID-19 has already spread to more than 100 million Americans and that the fatality rate is lower than seasonal influenza.
Not surprisingly, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, part of the University of Washington in Seattle, is now projecting only 61,545 deaths. While every death from this virus is heartbreaking to see, this projection is lower than the 2017–2018 flu season. The projections now seem to drop by the day.
And somewhat ironically, in Seattle, one of the hardest-hit areas of the country, the decision was made to close the emergency field hospital, which had 250 beds housed inside of a Seattle convention center. Guess how many COVID-19 patients the field hospital cared for?
Zero. Not even one.
And I expect even better news this week…
Regards,
Jeff Brown
Editor, Exponential Tech Investor
P.S. Because of the recent market volatility, several “best of breed” 5G companies are trading at bargain valuations. At these levels, 1,000% gains are absolutely in play with key investments in 5G companies.
For many investors, COVID-19 is a wealth-destroying event. But it doesn’t have to be. I want all my readers to turn it into their greatest opportunity for wealth creation. That’s what my 5G summit is all about. You can watch the replay – including my Q&A session – right here…