The Kerala government had declared a lockdown in the state to arrest the spread of COVID-19 two weeks ago. While a majority of the people in the state are confined to their homes, abiding by the rules of the state government, the disease has caused anxiety among the public. Add to it a series of fake messages and videos that pop up on WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
Many of these messages attempted to make claims of how the virus spread and how a person can test at home if he/she has the disease.
For example, one message claimed that coronavirus remains in the throat for about four days before it reaches the lungs. This message also claimed that one can “kill the virus” by gargling with warm water and salt or vinegar. Well, this is not true. This has even been debunked by doctors as well as the central government.
Another message claimed that coronavirus spreads through mosquito bites. However, this is not true as experts have pointed out that this new strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, spreads through droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
One of the other false messages being widely circulated was that a person can ‘test’ if he/she has COVID-19 by holding their breath for about 10 seconds. It claimed that if the person can do so without coughing or any discomfort, he/she does not have the disease. This is not true.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, and an infected person’s airways would be affected In an interview to CNN, Dr Robert Legare Atmar, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said being able to hold breath for 10 seconds does not mean that the person is not infected.
Incidentally, many of these messages are attributed to senior doctors and other experts, but that is not always the case.
So verify such messages before forwarding them.