The Most Insane Coronavirus Myths

Once again, this theory has been completely dismissed by scientists studying the disease. Although researchers are still looking into the origins of the virus and how it emerged, health officials have confidently reported that this virus isn’t man-made.

Once again, that’s not how the virus works. Coronavirus enters your body primarily through the respiratory tract when you breathe in. That means it’s running through an entirely different system than your stomach and digestive tract. Although some viruses may enter your mouth, the food you eat won’t help or hurt your illness. Staying away from ice cream is a torturous and unnecessary decision in these dark times.

The infographic, however, was first published in 2017. It had absolutely no connection to the virus. It was simply an informative tool for men who were planning to use tight-sealing face masks. Having facial hair or not having facial hair won’t affect your ability to catch the virus.

WHO has stated that your body temperature will stay the same, no matter how hot your bath or shower is. Jumping into water hot enough to sear your skin will only result in pain, and you won’t kill the virus. The fact that WHO has to remind every to steer clear off too-hot water is a little upsetting, mostly because it means that people are burning themselves trying to get rid of the virus.

Once again, WHO disagrees. The organization warns against turning to radiation to get rid of the virus because a) radiation isn’t good for you and b) it can severely damage your skin. Exposing yourself to radiation on a regular basis is dangerous. Not only that, it won’t keep you from catching the virus.

Unfortunately, some people have taken that idea a little too far. In order to ensure that they’re as clean as humanly possible, people have been spraying their entire body with alcohol or chlorine and claiming that it can kill the virus. Although these substances might kill viruses on your skin, they won’t help you if you’ve already been infected with the disease. Plus, they can be damaging to your body if used frequently. Just stick to washing your hands, please.

Thankfully, the US Food and Drug Administration stepped in and forced Bakker to walk back on his comments. Not only is ingesting silver generally considered to be unsafe, but it’s also not an effective way to battle coronavirus.

MMS has already been denounced by the FDA as an unsafe supplement. Still, Sather continues to peddle the product to his thousands of followers. Let’s be clear–no bleaching agent should ever be ingested into your body, and it certainly won’t help you beat coronavirus.

To combat the negative effects of bleach, people have claimed that just gargling with the substance can kill the virus and keep you safe. However, gargling with bleach is just as dangerous as drinking it. If the substance finds a way into your lungs, it can cause suffocation and even death. At that point, it won’t really matter if you’ve somehow managed to kill the virus, which you probably won’t.

However, that doesn’t mean that garlic can prevent coronavirus. In an effort to use natural remedies to stop the virus in its tracks, people have been eating way too much garlic. One woman in China actually had to go to the hospital after consuming 1.5kg of raw garlic, leading to an inflamed throat. The coronavirus isn’t a vampire–garlic alone won’t take it down.

While staying hydrated is always a good way to avoid illness, there’s no evidence to suggest that you can wash a virus into your stomach and kill it. Honestly, we should have known. That sounds like a far too easy way to treat a disease.

COVID-19 isn’t the only coronavirus. Coronavirus is actually a large family of viruses. COVID-19 is just the latest strain of coronavirus that’s wreaking havoc on the world. Lysol’s labels refer to pre-existing coronaviruses that the Lysol products have effectively eliminated on certain surfaces.

That means that staying away from Chinese culture won’t limit your chances of catching the virus. The virus isn’t spread through Chinese food because that’s just now how it works. Eating Chinese food specifically won’t increase your chances of catching the virus. We literally cannot say this enough. If you still want your fried rice and kung pao chicken while under quarantine, go right ahead and place an order.

Unfortunately, experts disagree. Since the coronavirus cases have been found all around the world–including Australia, where they’re experiencing the tail end of summer–experts have concluded that the virus can appear in all areas, despite the weather. Don’t think you’ll escape the sickness by taking a tropical vacation. Coronavirus can appear anywhere.

In addition, it’s unclear whether the virus is seasonal. It could become seasonal in the future, but as of right now it’s a new virus with little information to give us an idea of how long it will stick around. Comparing the virus to the flu downplays the severity of the situation and causes people to assume that they can go about their daily lives as normal, which doesn’t seem to be the case.

While these masks can help to prevent people who are already infected from spreading the virus even further, they’re unlikely to keep you from catching the virus. Higher quality masks can be helpful, but they need to be used by trained professionals. The most effective way to avoid contracting the disease is to wash your hands consistently.

Scientists, however, use a number called the R0, which predicts how many people can catch a virus from a single infected person. As of right now, they’ve estimated that one infected person will pass the coronavirus on to 2.2 people. One person infected with the flu, however, will only pass the virus onto 1.3 people.

You absolutely, 100%, cannot get coronavirus from drinking Corona beer. The names are the same and the resulting memes are funny, but don’t make the mistake of believing the two are genuinely linked. You can still drink your Corona beer in peace.

In this time of crisis, stay safe and learn more about Covid-19 at the WHO website: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters

Cover photo credit: Jake Bradley | Unsplash