these things will not prevent, or cure, covid-19
the panic we are seeing around covid-19 brings with it snake oil, ignorance, rash decisions.
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panic over covid-19 has people desperate for preventative measures. stock/getty
viral panic brings with it snake oil, ignorance, rash decisions or some combination of all three. the panic over the coronavirus is no different.twenty-seven people died in iran’s khuzestan and alborz provinces after ingesting ethanol and methanol in hopes it would stave off the virus. the khuzestan hospital saw 213 people admitted despite only 73 coronavirus cases. since the country prohibits alcohol, these citizens got theirs from supermarkets, where it is sold as sanitizers.the american televangelist jim bakker, who had previously completed five years in prison after charges of fraud and a sex scandal, sells colloidal silver for $40. it was featured on his tv show, ‘the jim bakker show’ on the ptl satellite network. colloidal silver is simply silver suspended in a liquid, it has no known health benefits and is actually considered unsafe and ineffective by any legitimate health body. on tuesday, the missouri attorney general’s office announced they were suing him.the u.s. food and drug administration (fda) has sent a letter to a sarnia, ontario-based vivify holistic clinic for selling boneset tea as a coronavirus cure, asking them to cease their false claims. the clinic recommended one take the tea up to six times a day. of course, it’s fraudulent.“there currently are no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges or other prescription or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure coronavirus disease. thus, the claims cited above are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. you must immediately cease making all such claims,” reads the fda’s letter.posts on facebook have been sharing the idea that eating lots of garlic will help. while it has some antimicrobial qualities, it will not help. the south china morning post reported a story of a woman who received treatment for a severely inflamed throat after consuming 1.5kg of raw garlic.there’s also this post on facebook that has gone viral. it has been shared in arabic over 250,000 times. it is nonsense.
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unicef cambodia responded with a tweet after another viral post attributed to them claimed that drinking hot water with plenty of exposure to the sun would kill the virus. of course, this only applied if you avoided ice cream. again, none of this is true.
infamous scam artist dr. oz has said that four lozenges four times a day for five days of elderberry will help you if you are sick. there is no evidence that elderberries will do anything and the dosages seem to have been conjured out of thin air.conspiracy theorists in qanon have been peddling the idea that drinking bleach will help. as well, the french ministry of health had to come out and say that snorting cocaine is not a coronavirus fix.
the truth is that we are probably 12 to 18 months out from a vaccine and until then, miracle cures will do nothing for you. in fact, in some cases, they can kill you.nsokic@postmedia.com
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