Elon Musk says health orgs call viruses Covid-19 to get more funding

Twitter owner Elon Musk says that health officials are labeling different viruses as being types of Covid-19 in order to receive more funding.

Musk made the comment while replying to a thread where two users were discussing how mild the virus has become.



"They just kept calling different viruses C19, because that got more funding than if not," Musk replied. "That’s why I called it the 'Virus of Theseus': how many RNA changes are required before it’s *not* C19!?

Musk had previously dubbed Covid as the "virus of Theseus" after contracting the disease for the second time, and began publicly questioning the narrative around the virus after testing both positive and negative on a test.

In March of 2022, Musk said, "How many gene changes before it’s not Covid-19 anymore? I supposedly have it again, but almost no symptoms."

The reference to Theseus comes from the Greek mythological hero's ship which brought about the question, If an object has all the parts that comprise it replaced, is it still the same object?

Musk also caught Covid in November of 2020, announcing, "Am getting wildly different results from different labs, but most likely I have a moderate case of covid. My symptoms are that of a minor cold, which is no surprise, since a coronavirus is a type of cold."

Musk had said that he felt like he had a "regular cold" but with more body aches and brain fog.