Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters

WHO Myth-busters

There is a lot of false information around. These are the facts.

:1234: People of all ages CAN be infected by the coronavirus. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.

:snowflake: Cold weather and snow CANNOT kill the coronavirus.

:sunny: The coronavirus CAN be transmitted in areas with hot and humid climates

:mosquito: The coronavirus CANNOT be transmitted through mosquito bites.

:dog: There is NO evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can transmit the coronavirus.

:bath: Taking a hot bath DOES NOT prevent the coronavirus

:dash: Hand dryers are NOT effective in killing the coronavirus

:purple_circle: Ultraviolet light SHOULD NOT be used for sterilization and can cause skin irritation

:thermometer: Thermal scanners CAN detect if people have a fever but CANNOT detect whether or not someone has the coronavirus

:sweat_drops: Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body WILL NOT kill viruses that have already entered your body

:syringe: Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine, DO NOT provide protection against the coronavirus.

:nose: There is NO evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the coronavirus.

:garlic: Garlic is healthy but there is NO evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the coronavirus.

:pill: Antibiotics DO NOT work against viruses, antibiotics only work against bacteria.

:test_tube: To date, there is NO specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the coronavirus.

Check the facts on the WHO website: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters

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Will putting alcohol inside the body kill the Corona virus?

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Wow, that looks realā€¦ the WHO must have the same sense of humour

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Another important point that was not said.
You can have and spread the Corona Virus even if you have no symptoms

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You can take virus even twice.

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Thereā€™s no cure yet either.

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If thatā€™s true, then we are all in trouble. I fear how far people will go if someone so much as sneezes in their presence. People already treat me like Iā€™m dying and carrying the Bubonic Plague just because of my chronic cough. Itā€™s not even a frequent cough. It comes and goes. No doctor will test me for COVID-19 over just a cough unless there is fever and shortness of breath to go with it.

What happens if I come down this virus later? My co-workers will tell me I knew I had this virus since I went on leave for two weeks in early February even though I was told I didnā€™t have it by more than one medical professional stemming from the belief that I havenā€™t been outside the country for years. What if those medical professionals were wrong because they didnā€™t actually test for it without all of the symptoms? And what happens if one of my co-workers get it after I later have it, and someone close to them dies from it? That blame gets laid back on me.

It will be the Salem Witch Trials meets Jim Crow Laws. Iā€™m legitimately fearful of this.

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Even dangerous and complicated than they think on first

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thanks for sharing. I was looking for the exact same video. it was more than 5 mins long, so I couldnā€™t share it on LINE

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I did see an advert stating that drinking bleach did not kill the coronavirus. I was surprised it didnā€™t mention it would kill YOU?

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Itā€™s a reasonable fear, @Mothra, but being contagious before you develop symptoms is not unusual. It happens with many illnesses. Thatā€™s one reason why strep throat tends to run through entire classrooms in schools. A kid gets it, hasnā€™t developed symptoms yet, comes to school, spreads it to classmates, then ā€œgets sickā€ and stays home. Theyā€™ve already exposed their entire class to strep and didnā€™t know it.

One thing I would recommend in your particular case, with the chronic cough, is to be very aware of any changes from your typical pattern. If you start to cough more, produce more mucus, or anything else that is noticeably different, let your regular doctor know that its different from usual

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A friend of mine have the same issue @Mothra, itā€™s not even a bad cough. Mostly just occasional during the day but sometimes keeps her up at nights. Sheā€™s been getting the ā€œeveryone move away quicklyā€ reaction when out in public.

I told her to use it to get to the front of the lines? Maybe exaggerating a bit? Iā€™m pretty sure it would work.

The latest word from CDC/WHO is that children are NOT at a higher risk to get the Virus. But if they do they seem to exhibit slighter symptoms, something resembling the common cold. This could be different for children with compromised immune systems or other medical issues. Adults over 50 (lucky me) seem to have a higher risk of developing more serious symptoms (especially those with health issues, and smokers ā€¦lucky me again)
Itā€™s hypothesized that as warmer weather sets in the virus may slow itā€™s spread and slowly fade away. The issue is that IF this does happen we could see it back again next fall as some other serious diseases have done in the past.

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Covid 19 is not an instant death sentence and the news is doing a horrible job of presenting the true facts of what is actually happening to patients who catch the virus. Yes the virus is highly contagious and yes people are dying from it, but the majority of people who do have it are being sent home to self quarantine. Itā€™s like having a cold on steroids. The cough is deep and dry. The fatigue caused by the virus will make you sleep all day and still be tired. As for other people they are panicking. Trust your doctors they do not want to see the virus spread by an innocent person. If they suspect you have it they will test you. Iā€™m sorry you have to endure the idiocy of the public who is panicking rather then taking the necessary precautions to keep the virus from spreading. Please donā€™t accept blame for something you did not cause.

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It is still unknown if you can get infected multiple times. There have been reports of someone being positive then negative then positive again.

However trials with monkeys have been carried out where they were infected, showed symtoms so they were ill. Then they were infected again with a HUGE dose of virus and did not get ill again.

The reports of someone being infected twice might be caused by testing errors that showed a negative test while the person was actualy still in the first infection.

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Iā€™m not trying to ā€œ conspiracy theoryā€ā€¦ but I truly believe it has been going around a lot longer then reported as well. They just didnā€™t know and were testing for flu. Obviously still take pre cautions but the numbers are greatly skewed and ā€œ not as badā€ as the ones just tested and reported.

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This wouldnā€™t be a nice side affect of coronavirus but it would be great if it were an early self-test for anyone infected, especially asymptomatic people!

Luckily Italy is #2 in the world for best healthcare, so they shouldnā€™t have much to worry about.

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