Stop hoaxes! These are the news about the coronavirus that you should not pay attention to because they are lies

The list of hoaxes about the coronavirus crisis is so long and endless that the media that fight against this type of information do not give enough: from those who claim that vitamin C is the solution to contagion to those who seek protection in infusions of medicinal plants like mugwort. Some of these information is well-intentioned, other incomplete and the last directly falseSometimes it is difficult to know what is true and what is a lie amidst so much noise. Information verification experts advise us not to take seriously any news that does not come from a duly identified competent source (A friend of a friend who is a doctor, without saying what doctor she is or what hospital, is not a verified source, by the way). But in case you still hesitate, Check this list of hoaxes that have been published about coronavirus… And that they are completely false.

Neither drinking a lot of water nor gargling (it does not matter if it is a mouthwash or warm water and salt or vinegar) prevents coronavirus infection

Possibly you have seen information on Twitter that says that before reaching the lungs, the coronavirus “remains in the throat for four days and at this moment the person begins to cough and to have sore throats. If you drink a lot of water and gargle with warm water and salt or vinegar, you eliminate the virus. ”

This variant of prevention with gargling and swallowing water has had so many fans that the WHO itself has had to deny that it is of any use, why not? it is absolutely useless. What does work is to wash your hands with soap and water often and maintain social distance.

No, you will not catch the coronavirus from clapping on the balcony

One of the most widespread hoaxes these days speaks of the Chinese doctors who went to Italy warning that the key to the Italian contagion is that people got infected when they went out to sing and clap on the balconies. Well, Chinese doctors did not say such a thing. The risk of getting coronavirus because your upstairs neighbor is singing loudly on the balcony while you applaud one floor below is so remote that washing your hands after clapping is almost canceled. And if you have symptoms and want to applaud, do it, alone and with masks.

Ibuprofen does not aggravate the coronavirus (but it is better to use paracetamol)

The French Minister of Health stated that ibuprofen should not be taken because the coronavirus infection worsened and since then his words continue to be denied. The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) he had to go through this information stating that "there is currently no data that would allow an aggravation of COVID-19 infection to be confirmed with the ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)”And that patients who are in chronic treatment with these drugs should not interrupt them.

Also, a recent study by King's College London (UK) has been unable to find evidence either for or against the use of NSAIDs to aggravate the situation for patients with coronavirus. However, the WHO and Ministry of Health recommendation guidelines state that the first alternative to treat coronavirus fever is paracetamol (As it is recommended in other diseases that occur with fever such as the flu and because it has fewer gastrointestinal effects).

Coronavirus is not transmitted through the air

A publication in the The New England Journal Medicine hinted that the coronavirus could hold up to 3 hours in the air… and the alarm spread. The WHO has been responsible for denying this claim. It has not been possible to demonstrate that the coronavirus is transmitted by air, however what has been proven is what has been said so far: that it is transmitted from one person to another through the small droplets that someone infected can expel by coughing or sneezing when those little drops hit the airways of third parties. This is why it is so important to cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze and to maintain the social distance of one and a half meters.

As for the letter published in The New England Journal Medicine the WHO affirms that the experiment in question was carried out in a laboratory without taking into account the real conditions of the contagion (temperature and humidity, wind, distance …) and that after the analysis of 75,465 cases of Covid-19 in China, no airborne transmission was recorded.

You can get coronavirus because they have coughed your hair

exist many hoaxes about the use of creams, makeup and hair around the coronavirus. The CDC recommended that male toilets shave as a contagion prevention measure, and the imagination soared in the most creative way. The recommendation was more aimed at Protective masks will fit properly to prevent the coronavirus it will “stick” to the beard hairs and from there they will pass on to another person.

But since fear is free, the hair / coronavirus association was registered in many whatsapp groups. It is true? As explained in Sonia Zúñiga, researcher at the National Center for Biotechnology at the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CNB-CSIC) in this article from Maldita.es it is true that the virus could remain in the hair, "but it is not the best surface for it to survive." Also, for contagion to occur, someone would have to cough us close in the hair, leave it full of drops (so that there was a significant viral load) and we would have to take that area of ​​the hair to the nose or mouth … An unlikely situation.