India Assures Citizens 5G Doesn't Cause COVID-19, Also Says Country Doesn't Have 5G

India's Department of Telecommunications (DOT) released a statement on Monday assuring its citizens that there is no link between 5G mobile technology and the COVID-19 virus. The department also noted that there currently is no 5G testing in India.

Conspiracy theories have been flying around social media platforms throughout India's deadly second wave of Coronavirus cases. One of the most prevalent, yet simultaneously unfounded of these rumors is that their second wave of cases is being driven by the testing of 5G mobile towers.

"These messages are false and absolutely not correct," the DOT report said. "The general public is hereby informed that there is no link between 5G technology and the spread of Covid-19 and they are urged not to be misguided by the false information and rumors spread in this matter."

The statement clearly indicates that 5G network testing has not begun anywhere in India at this time. So any claims that 5G cell towers, testing, or usage could be causing the coronavirus, or could be aiding in the spread of the coronavirus are completely "baseless," according to the DOT.

The DOT went on to explain some of the science of why 5G towers would not be likely to have anything to do with the spread of a virus, saying, "Mobile towers emit non-ionizing Radio frequencies having very minuscule power and are incapable of causing any kind of damage to living cells including human beings."

"DOT has prescribed norms for exposure limit for the Radio Frequency Field (i.e. Base Station Emissions) which are 10 times more stringent than the safe limits prescribed by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and recommended by WHO (World Health Organization)," the statement read.

If citizens remain concerned about activity from cell towers in their area, the DOT provided the public with a link to the Tarang Sanchar Portal where members of the public can request radio wave measurements and tests.

The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), a prominent industry organization, also said it encountered numerous examples of inaccurate messaging on social media platforms that blamed 5G spectrum trials as the reason COVID cases have been spiking again in India.

"We would like to clarify that these rumors are absolutely false. We urge people not to fall for such baseless misinformation," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI said in a statement last week that echos the messaging from the DOT. He also argued that many countries have already been using 5G networks without the serious spike in COVID-19 cases that India is seeing.

Over 23 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in India since the pandemic started.

Newsweek reached out to the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. for comment. This story will be updated with any response.