Published 12:48 IST, March 27th 2020
This Korean series predicted COVID-19 outbreak 2 years ago, netizens stunned
Korean drama series on Netflix may have predicted the coronavirus pandemic two years ahead of the outbreak, according to shocked fans of the streaming platform.
A Korean drama series on Netflix may have predicted the coronavirus pandemic two years ahead of the outbreak. Korean show My Secret Terrius released an episode in 2018 featuring a strain of coronavirus mutated by terrorists to be used as a weapon, leaving doctors desperate to find a cure.
Coronavirus prediction
There are several different types of coronavirus, including one that led to the MERS outbreak in 2015 and the most recent one, which causes the disease COVID-19. An eagle-eyed Twitter user spotted similarities between the ongoing pandemic and the fictional virus described in the final episode of the first series of My Secret Terrius, which stars actor So Ji-sub, Jung In-sun, Son Ho-jun, and Im Se-mi.
One of the users uploaded a clip from the show last week on his Twitter handle, admitting that the episode had given her "goosebumps". In the video, a character compares the fictional virus to MERS, saying: "Someone tweaked it to increase the mortality rate to 90 percent. "What’s more serious," she adds, "is that the coronavirus has an incubation period of two to 14 days.
"The virus was manipulated to attack the lungs directly within just five minutes of being exposed." She goes on to describe how there's no cure for the disease. Later on in the episode, schoolchildren are taught how to wash their hands properly to avoid the spread of the virus.
'Massively spooked'
A soon as the user shared the video on social media, it attracted hundreds of users in a tiff over the show's supposed "prediction" of the COVID-19 outbreak. My Secret Terrius originally aired on South Korean channel MBC and appeared on Netflix later down the line. One person remarked: "This s**t had me speechless. But still a dope show". Another added: "Just gonna leave this here but I am massively spooked. This series My Secret Terrius is on Netflix but came out 2 years ago and talks about the coronavirus we’re going through rn…".
However, R fact-checked it and the show talks about a coronavirus, but there is no prediction about COVID-19 and that it will spread in 2020. The virus in the show is also man-made and genetically mutated. On the other hand, there is no evidence that COVID-19 was man-made.
Updated 15:26 IST, March 28th 2020