Coronavirus Myths
There’s another thing spreading along with coronavirus: misinformation! It generally starts on the internet and is spread through social media, email, and text messages. Beware of misinformation you should ignore.
Special thanks to Cleveland & Woodley Park Village for this information.
Let’s dispel just a few of the rumors here:
- Eating garlic will NOT prevent the infection
- Drinking colloidal silver will NOT kill the virus (and it can cause some very serious side effects)
- Drinking water every 15 minutes will NOT “flush out” the virus
- You WON’T kill the virus by drinking hot water, staying out of the sun, taking hot baths, or using a hairdryer
- The ability to hold your breath for 10 seconds does NOT mean you are virus-free
- The virus was NOT created in a lab, a vaccine for it was NOT developed years ago, and is NOT being withheld from the public by any government
- Currently, there are NO specific medicines that are recommended to prevent or treat COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus)
Be skeptical of information sources that —
- Make claims that contradict recommendations from public health officials;
- Suggest they are providing inside information (e.g., information from someone at Stanford University or another otherwise reputable institution); or
- Promote conspiracy theories.
Be sure to get your information about coronavirus and COVID-19 from reputable sources. Get your news from sites that —
Want to know if a claim about the virus is true? Visit the World Health Organization's myth-busting webpage.