Truth About Coronavirus Scams: COVID-19 FAQs to Safeguard

This is the global concern of the people that drinking methanol, ethanol or bleach can prevent or cure Coronavirus COVID-19 or not.

According to WHO, drinking methanol, ethanol, or bleach doesn't prevent or cure COVID-19. Doing so is extremely dangerous as these substances are poisons and can harm internal organs, possibly leading to death or disability. Cleaning products use these to kill the virus on surfaces, but they will not kill the virus in your body.

To protect ourself against COVID-19, we have to disinfect objects and surfaces which we touch on regular basis like door nob, toilet flush, basin sinks, switches, table surface, mobile etc. for which you can use diluted bleach or alcohol.

There is/was a buzz going viral on social medias that exposing yourself to the sun or to temperatures higher than 25C degrees prevent you from the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As per World Health Organization (WHO), exposing yourself to the sun or to temperatures higher than 25C degrees does not prevent you from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Whether it is sunny or hot weather or not, COVID-19 can infect you as there are lots of instances that countries with hot weather have reported cases of COVID-19.

There are so many posts shared in social media that hot water bath can prevent Coronavirus disease and and making people confused. We would like to request you not to go for any rumors instead look for a reality and act cautiously to protect yourself and your family as well as friends.

Now regarding the above matter, WHO has mentioned that the hot water bath cannot prevent you from the COVID-19 virus. Actually taking bath with extreme hot water can be more harmful to your body as it may also burn you. With whatever bath we take, hot or cold, our normal body temperature remains at around 36.5 degree to 37 degree Celsius.

WHO has mentioned that from the evidence so far, the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted in all areas and climates, including areas with hot and humid weather.

So regardless of any area with any climate, people shall adopt precautionary and protective measures in their daily lifestyle wherever they are.

This is the concern that if injecting disinfectant in the body can kill Coronvirus or not.

This confusion is created among the people due to the comments made by the president of the United States at a government briefing. There he suggested we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light; or we brought the light inside of the body either through the skin or in some other way; or by injecting disinfectant or something like that which knocks out the virus in a minute.

But when he suggested injecting the disinfectant, that went out with a wrong message. The exact word that he said about disinfectant is: "And then I see the disinfectant. It knocks it out in a minute. One minute. Something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning." Check the video below for the details:- https://youtu.be/OxSaT6CNr8I?si=Bf9c1ovTeRDjboGd

Well, Donald Trump was here not saying people should try it. He was only suggesting the idea to medical experts. But, people start to share his idea about injecting disinfectant and that take social media by storm. So, we are worried that some people may actually believe it and try it.

We like to warn people not to inject themselves with disinfectant since it can harm your body very badly.

Reckitt Benckiser, which owns brands including Lysol, Dettol, Vanish and Cillit Bang, said its products should not be administered through injection, ingestion or any other route. For more details, please follow this link:- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52411706

WHO has mentioned that from the evidence as well as information so far till the date, the COVID-19 virus cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites since it is a respiratory virus which spreads through the droplets of the infected person’s cough, sneeze, discharge from the nose or droplets of saliva.

As per World Health Organization (WHO), spraying and introducing bleach or another disinfectant into your body will not protect you against COVID-19. Instead, it can be very dangerous to your body and health.

WHO also warned people not to spray or introduce bleach or any other disinfectant into your body in any circumstances. Since, using bleach and disinfectants should be approached with caution since these substances can be poisonous if ingested, causing irritation and damage to your skin and eyes. It is essential to use them carefully to disinfect surfaces only, not the human body.

This 5G mobile network confusion is created among the peple due to the lots of scams and fake posts available in the internet portals and social medias. Many scammers are spreading fake news about this issues and making people believe on that providing fake instances.

As per World Health Organization, Viruses cannot travel on mobile networks or radio waves and so does COVID-19. The instances is that Coronavirus is spreading in such countries as well where there is no 5G mobile networks.

COVID-19 spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks or exhals. People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose.

There is a buzz on social medias that our mouths and throats shall always be moist. So, we shall drink water every 15 minutes and that will help to wash the virus down and killed by our stomach gastric acid which contains pH of between one and three.

However, there is no evidence so far that drinking water is helpful in killing or preventing the infection from COVID-19.

But what we observe so far from the several sources that mouth is not only the way of transmission of the virus. Contaminated fingers can infect some people by touching their mouth, while others can contract the virus by touching the nose or eyes.

Please note that the Coronavirus is transmitted through enhaling the tiny droplets that comes out while a infected person sneezes, coughs or exhales. So "drinking water can prevent infection with Covid-19" is yet another theory based rumor people are spreading around.

As per bbc.com, Kalpana Sabapathy, a clinical epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine explains that the illness due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection cannot be prevented by drinking water. She said that the infections often begin after we’ve been exposed to thousands or millions of viral particles. So, sweeping a few down the oesophagus is unlikely to have much of an impact.

She further added "One gaping hole in it is the likelihood that you managed to flush all of them down into your stomach. You would probably have already got them in your nostrils by then, for example – it’s not fool proof”.

Additional Info related to drinking water:

However, there is evidence that some patients have been reporting symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea. The experts from China are warning that there are signs it can infect the digestive tract. One report indicates that the virus persists in the feces of more than 50% of people with Covid-19, lingering long after it has been cleared from the lungs.

Though drinking plenty of water is always good for our health.

As per World Health Organization, Coronavirus is common in animals as Coronavirus are a large family of viruses. As per researches so far, the possible animal sources of COVID-19 have not yet been confirmed. Having said that, people may get infected by animal sources which may spread in other people. For example, SARS-CoV was associated with civet cats and MERS-CoV is transmitted by dromedary camels.

As per World Health Organization, COVID-19 and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) are not the same diseases.

The virus that causes these both diseases are related to each other genetically. But the diseases they cause, both COVID-19 and SARS are different as COVID-19 is more infectious than SARS though SARS was more deadly.

SARS was outbroke in 2003 and then there is no evidence of its outbroke until now but COVID-19 was outbroke in 2019 and still countinuing to spread globally.

Many scammers are spreading fake news that regularly rinsing your nose with saline can help you to prevent the infection with Coronavirus.

However, as per WHO, there is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline prevent from the coronavirus or respiratory infections. But, there is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing nose with saline can help to recover more quickly from the common cold.

As per World Health Organization, COVID-19 spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets produced while coughing by a infected person. But there is very low risk that a person catch Coronavirus from a person who has no symptons.

We shall always keep in mind that many people with COVID-19 disease infection experience only a mild symptons at their early stages.

So, it is important that a person shall stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick. But sometimes, we can't identify infected person. So, you should follow the rule of maintaing the said distance in pandemic period with everyone you communicate with.

Until today, there is not any evidence that pets i.e. dogs, cats or any other pets can transmit Coronavirus to human.

According to WHO, studies thus far indicate that the virus responsible for Coronavirus (COVID-19) primarily spreads through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air.

WHO has mentioned that the thermal scanner is effective in detecting a person having a fever (who have higher than normal body temperature) because of Coronavirus infection. But the device cannot detect a person infected with Coronavirus but not yet have fever. Be aware that the incubation period, ranging from 2 to 10 days with a median of 5 to 6 days, is the time between exposure and the onset of illness.

WHO has mentioned that the vaccines against pneumonia do not protect you from the COVID-19 virus. Further the vaccines like Heamophilus Influenza type B (Hib) do not help to prevent Coronavirus disease. WHO strongly recommends vaccination against Coronavirus using the recommended vaccines.

Now regarding the above matter, WHO has clearly mentioned that spraying chlorine or alcohol all over the body cannot kill the Coronavirus that have entered in your body. But they are helpful in disinfecting surfaces from viruses upon use under appropriate recommendation.

Alcohol or chlorine can be harmful to spray in your body because it may damage your clothes or mucous membranes i.e. eyes, mouth.

WHO has clearly mentioned that ultraviolet disinfection lamps are not at all effective for killing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on our body. To use UVC light safely, you need specialist equipment and training. So, you should be extra careful while disinfecting the objects with UV light and should not use it to sterilize your hands or any part of your body or your pets.

We also want you to read the article released by BBC by clicking >HERE< to find out how much it is dangerous to use UV technology. So, UV light shall not be used to sterilize hands or any other parts of the body as it can cause skin irritation due to its UV radiations.

As per WHO, the hand dryers are not at all effective for killing the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As per National Institutes of Health, the new studies so far suggest that the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days on surfaces as:

1. Aerosols: 3 hours
2. Plastic: 2-3 days
3. Stainless Steel: 2-3 days
4. Copper: 4 hours
5. Cardboard: 24 hours

The results provide key information about the stability of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Coronavirus disease, and suggests that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects.

As per World Health Organization, the following measures should not be adopted by a person to prevent Coronavirus as they are not effective against COVID-19 and can be more harmful and dangerous for your health:
i. Smoking
ii. Drinking alcohol or alcohol based drinks (instead, use alcohol based sanitizer to clean hands)
iii. Wearing multiple masks
iv. Taking any kind of antibiotics without your doctor's prescription

Besides, a person shall immediately look for a medical care if they have a Coronavirus symptons i.e fever, cough and difficulty breathing to reduce the risk of developing a more severe infection and be sure to share your recent travel history with your health care provider.

There is high risk of getting infection from inproper way of using the mask. However, health workers, caregivers, and individuals with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough must use the mask.

As recommended by WHO, a person using mask must follow the following process before and after using the mask:

• Before touching the mask, clean hands with liquid hand wash or soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand rub/sanitizer.
• Check the mask for tears or holes, as such a mask must not be used.
• Put the metal strip side on top side i.e. in your upper nose.
• Ensure the proper side i.e. coloured side of the mask faces outwards.
• Place the mask to your face and pinch the metal strip or stiff edge of the mask as it moulds to the shape of your nose.
• Pull down the mask’s bottom so as to cover your mouth and your chin.
• After use, take off the mask; remove the elastic loops from behind the ears while keeping the mask away from your face and clothes so as to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces of the mask.
• Discard the mask in a closed or covered dustbin immediately after use.
• Perform hand hygiene after touching or discarding the mask – clean hands with liquid hand wash or soap and water or with an alcohol-based hand rub/sanitizer.

Above are the safety majors one must follow too properly use and discard a mask to prevent Coronavirus infection at possible extent.

There are no specific and separate safety measures preferred for the pregnant women yet. Hence, they shall also do the same things as the other people shall do to prevent the Coronavirus infection.

As per World Health Organization, all the evidences so far show that SARS-CoV-2 has a natural animal origin and is not a constructed virus and most probably has its ecological reservoir in bats.

Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2, belongs to a group of genetically related viruses, which also include SARS-CoV and a number of other CoVs isolated from bats populations. MERS-CoV also belongs to this group, but is less closely related.

As per World Health Organization, the illness due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection depends on the age factor as well as the physical and mental condition of a person. If a person is a child or an adult, the illness is generally mild, however it can cause serious illness about 1 in every 5 person who need hospital care.

Furthermore, Coronavirus is spreading globally and virus keep on mutating. So, it's obvious that a person worry about how the COVID-19 outbreak will affect them and their family or a community they live in.