FLUSHING OUT CORONAVIRUS WITH WATER
Misinformation about treating coronavirus is rife, some of it harmful LISA SALMON speaks to the health experts
should avoid direct contact with people delivering groceries or packages, and wash hands thoroughly after bringing in packages or grocery deliveries.
“Most people understand the importance of social distancing,” stresses study co-author Professor Michael Reiss of the UCL Institute of Education. “However, there are important misunderstandings about the implications of food and eating practices. Governments can help allay fears and reduce Covid-19 transmission by promoting clear public health messages about food.”
Here, Alex outlines seven potentially harmful beliefs in relation to Covid-19...
1
WASHING FOOD WITH DILUTED BLEACH
THE UCL/HSA study found 43% of participants wrongly believed it is safe to eat fruits and vegetables washed with soap or diluted bleach, supposedly to remove potential COVID-19 viral particles. “It’s not safe to wash your fresh produce with soap or diluted bleach,” says Alex.
2
MORE than a fifth (21%) of people questioned wrongly believed drinking water flushes all COVID-19 viral particles into the oesophagus and then into the stomach, where they think they’re completely disintegrated by gastric acid. Another 22% were unsure whether this was true or not. In addition, 25% of people wrongly believed keeping your mouth and throat moist could stop coronavirus, incorrectly assuming saliva can encapsulate and deactivate the COVID-19 virus.
3
BLEACH IS NO REMEDY
A SMALL minority of people (3.3%) wrongly believed you can protect yourself from the novel coronavirus by gargling bleach, and a further 7.5% were unsure. In fact, the reality is that gargling bleach may cause poisoning, rather than act as a health aid.
“People can die from following harmful health advice, and sadly government officials are not exempt from spreading risky misinformation,” says Alex.
One Arizona couple poisoned themselves by ingesting chloroquine phosphate, via a home fish-tank cleaner, after Donald Trump’s televised endorsement of an anti-malarial drug containing chloroquine, despite scientists’ warnings against it.
4
HUGE VITAMIN DOSES
TAKING mega-doses of concentrated vitamin C (8g and above) or vitamin D (10,000 IU and above) isn’t proven to stop people getting COVID-19, or to treat it, says Alex.
5
EATING HERBS AND SPICES
ANOTHER unproven treatment is eating herbs and spices, like garlic, ginger, oregano or chilli. Alex says there is no evidence for this.
6
LIQUID ‘CURES’
ALEX stresses there’s also no evidence that gargling alcoholic drinks like vodka or dental mouthwash, or sipping hot drinks such as tea and broth will affect coronavirus.
7
COLD ‘CURE’
THERE’S also no evidence that avoiding cold drinks and cold foods, such as ice-cream, will affect the virus. “There are numerous examples of unproven COVID-19 preventative methods and cures that are being disseminated since the global outbreak,” says Alex. “These will neither stop you from catching COVID-19 nor make you immune against it.”
Governments can help allay fears and reduce Covid-19 transmission by promoting clear public health messages about food and eating Professor Michael Reiss, right, UCL Institute of Education