Does Garlic Really Cure Coronavirus? Lowdown On Popular Perceptions

The Wuhan-originated novel coronavirus has spread to almost every continent on Earth except Antartica claiming more than 27,000 lives. And then, the World Health Organisation declared it as 'pandemic'.

Since the day when the deadly virus started spreading across the world, number of untruths, myths and conspiracies started surfacing online. And it is quite obvious that as soon as the words 'pandemic', 'epidemic' or 'outbreak' start appearing in the headline, people become fearful, and with fear come misinformation and rumors.

And here in this feature, we have compiled all the myths and conspiracies circulating across the social media. Take a look at them!

1. The biggest myth which people are believing is that everyone with COVID-19 dies. Scientifically, this is very untrue. People should fix in their minds that the COVID-19 is fatal for a small percentage of people i.e., death rate is very less.

2. You can protect yourself by gargling bleach:
There are no circumstances in which gargling bleach might benefit your health. Bleach is corrosive and can cause serious damage to your respiratory system.

3. To believe that only older adults and young people are at risk but not children is not correct. All age groups can become infected. Most cases, so far, have been in adults, but children are not immune. In fact, preliminary evidence shows that children are just as likely to become infected, but their symptoms tend to be less severe. However, older adults or individuals with pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes or asthma, are more likely to become severely ill.

4. One very common myth which is being circulated on social media is that using garlic in more quantity can reduce the risk of coronavirus attack. This statement is very untrue. Some research suggests that garlic might slow the growth of some species of bacteria. However, COVID-19 is caused by a virus, and there is no evidence that garlic can protect people against COVID-19.

5.  You can catch coronavirus from eating Chinese food in other countries. No! You cannot.

6. The virus originated in a laboratory in China:
This is one of the biggest rumours which has been surfacing on internet since the virus broke out. However, there is no such evidence that this is the case. In fact, a recent study demonstrates that the virus is a natural product of evolution. Some researchers also think that it might have passed on to us from bats, which was also the case for SARS.

7. The virus will die off when temperatures rise in the spring:
Scientists across the world are working to know about this factor but there is no official statement on how temperature changes will influence the behavior of SARS-CoV-2.

8. People are spreading a lot of home remedies on social media thinking that they will help in curing covid-19. No home remedies can protect against COVID-19, including vitamin C, essential oils, silver colloid, sesame oil, garlic, fish tank cleaner and sipping water every 15 minutes. The best approach is to adopt a good handwashing regimen and to avoid places where there may be unwell people.

9. Many people are under a big untrue umbrella that antibiotics will kill coronavirus. Antibiotics only kill bacteria; they do not kill viruses.

10. Thermal scanners can diagnose coronavirus!
Thermal scanners can detect whether someone has a fever. However, other conditions, such as seasonal flu, can also produce fever. In addition, symptoms of COVID-19 can appear anywhere between 2–10 days after infection, which means that someone infected with the virus could have a normal temperature for a few days before a fever begins.

Also Read: COVID-19: Virologist delivers ‘twins’, Kit And A Kid..!