Amid a spate of newly reported cases of the coronavirus strain medical authorities believe originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan , several social media users have filled the vacuum of information about the illness with false narratives and unproven claims.

According to The New York Times , as of Monday, China had confirmed 2,744 cases of coronavirus, with at least 81 deaths as a result of the virus. As cases continue to emerge around the world, including five that were confirmed in the U.S. , health authorities are working to prevent this new strain of coronavirus from becoming a pandemic.

A flood of fake news surrounding the virus hasnt helped their efforts.

In one instance reported by BuzzFeed News, a Jan. 21 tweet from a user positing that the coronavirus was released intentionally was liked and retweeted thousands of times. Jordan Sather, a YouTube user who frequently shares hoaxes and unproven claims, linked to a 2015 patent for a coronavirus vaccine filed by a U.K.-based health institute. Sather suggested that well-connected pharmaceutical companies intentionally unleashed the disease on the public to stir up concern and sell a cure.

Was the release of this disease planned? Sathers tweet read. Is the media being used to incite fear around it? Is the Cabal desperate for money, so theyre tapping their Big Pharma reserves?

In reality, it is standard procedure for pharmaceutical companies to file patents preemptively, as the particular firm did. According to BuzzFeed, the coronavirus vaccine in this particular patent wasnt even for a strain affecting humans.