No, and the same for hair dryers. During a meeting on March 20th, American politician Bryant Culpepper claimed blowing heat and steam into one’s nose could kill off the coronavirus. Doing so does not kill the virus and more importantly can cause burn damage to soft tissue membranes in the nose and throat.
As spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body they are not effective in truly killing the virus. Spraying chemicals such as alcohol or chlorine over your body is not recommended by WHO however they are useful as disinfectant on surfaces when used under appropriate recommendations.
Absolutely not. Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus. This virus is new and different, it requires its own vaccine. Vaccine research for Covid-19 is currently underway.
False! People of all ages can be infected by the coronavirus. Older people, and people with underlying medical conditions (i.e asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus. Smokers and vapers are also at risk according to new findings. It is advised that people of all ages take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.
No, antibiotics only work on bacteria not a virus. Covid-19 is a virus and so antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment. A virus requires an antiviral for prevention and treatment but one has not been found for Covid-19 yet. If you are hospitalized for Covid-19 you may receive antibiotics because bacterial coinfection is possible.
Difference between Antibiotics and Antivirals
Recently questionable ‘medical advice’ has circulated on the internet that consuming a bowl of boiled garlic water would “improve and cure a person with the coronavirus overnight. This is NOT TRUE. WHO have addressed this claim by stating
“Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.”
Another so-called ‘cure’ that is being circulated is the consumption of Silver Solution. Infamous Televangelist, Jim Bekker (who previously spent time in federal prison for fraud) debuted this product on his show on March 12th. There is no scientific backing behind this product nor is it approved by the FDA. As WHO have stated there is no cure for Covid-19, Bekker is breaking New York Law leading Lisa Landau, the Chief of the Health Care Bureau, to give The Jim Bakker Show 10 days to comply with a cease-and-desist letter that tells him to stop touting this alleged cure for the coronavirus
There is a structural difference between professional face masks. Professional masks fit tightly around the face while disposable masks fit looser around the face. As these disposable masks do not fit neatly against the face, droplets can still enter the mouth and nose. Also, tiny viral particles can penetrate directly through the material. Because of this non-professional face masks are unlikely to provide as much protection against infectious spread. However, if someone has a respiratory illness, wearing a mask can help protect others from becoming infected.
WHO recommend that people who are caring for someone with suspected COVID-19 should wear a mask. In these cases, wearing a mask is only effective if the individual regularly washes their hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
When using a mask, it is important to use it and dispose of it properly.
There is little evidence that the coronavirus can infect cats and dogs. Recently in the news there was a unique case in Hong Kong where a Pomeranian, whose owner had COVID-19, became infected. This has led to scientists to debate the importance of this case to the pandemic. For instance, Prof. Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, says:
“We have to differentiate between real infection and just detecting the presence of the virus. I still think it’s questionable how relevant it is to the human outbreak, as most of the global outbreak has been driven by human-to-human transmission.”