Eleven myths and conspiracy theories around coronavirus debunked

Tourist in Piazza Duomo during the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak in Milan, Italy on Mar. 2, 2020. (Photo by Claudio Furlan - LaPresse/Sipa USA)

Since the coronavirus outbreak began late last year, several myths and conspiracy theories have begun swirling online.

Often shared widely on social media, many promote bizarre and ineffective treatment methods they claim can cure the disease.

While some even speculate that coronavirus may have been created by the Chinese government.

The virus has so far been detected in at least 70 countries with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths. Here are some of the most widely shared fallacies about the outbreak.

China created the virus in a lab

Several media outlets have suggested the disease may have been created as a biological weapon by the Chinese government. 

But the Russian Ministry of Health and a team of 27 health experts from outside of China later refuted the claims.

The health experts said in a statement in The Lancet: “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”

© Provided by Yahoo! News UK All masks sold out at this Ace Hardware in Portland, Ore., on March 2, 2020. There are currently three presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state, and people have been buying up supplies across the city. (Photo by Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA)

Facemasks protect against the virus

US government health officials have warned that facemasks are not effective in protecting against the spread of the disease.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted a warning stating that they may, in fact, help it spread even faster.

“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” he tweeted, alluding to panic buying.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also does not generally recommend them, according toAFP.

A runny nose isn’t a symptom

Multiple posted on social media suggested that a runny nose and sputum secretion are not symptoms of coronavirus.

The posts claim the disease presents itself as “a dry cough without runny nose”.

Medical authorities in China, the US and the World Health Organization (WHO), however, have listed both as possible signs of the disease.

Vitamin D protects against coronavirus

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube posts claim vitamin D can help reduce the risk of infection.

While vitamin D from sunlight can help boost the immune system, taking supplements cannot help protect against coronavirus.

Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha, the Head of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Center at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University said: “Statements that claim Vitamin D can prevent coronavirus or other viral infections are not true.

Cannabis boosts immunity

A video reportedly posted on YouTube by a Sri Lankan doctor has been republished with misleading titles claiming cannabis can help boost the immune system to protect against coronavirus.

In the clip, which has been viewed thousands of times online, the doctor makes no such claim.

A 2017 study published by the US-based National Academies of Sciences, however, found that there is “insufficient data to draw overarching conclusions concerning the effects of cannabis smoke or cannabinoids on immune competence.” 

Anti-malaria drugs have cured thousands

A Nigerian newspaper published an article which claimed that “12,552 patients in China” had been cured by anti-malarials.

The China National Center for Biotechnology Development confirmed the drug has “a certain curative effect on the novel coronavirus” but did not say it cured 12,552 patients.

The drug has reportedly only been used in clinical trials with “over 100 patients”.

Black people are less susceptible

Facebook posts shared thousands of times claim that a Cameroonian man living in China was cured of the novel coronavirus “because he has black skin”.

A Cameroonian student was successfully treated for the illness, but doctors claim there is “no scientific evidence” to suggest black people have a better chance of fighting the virus.

“Ethnicity and genetics have no influence on recovery from the virus, and black people don’t have more antibodies than white people,” Professor Amadou Alpha Sall, director of the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, told AFP.

China euthanised over 20,000 patients 

A fake article ciruculated on social media claimed the Chinese government sought approval from the country’s Supreme Court to have 20,000 patients killed to stop coronavirus spreading.

The China’s Supreme People’s Court has never held a hearing on such a case and the websites which shared the article have frequently been accused of spreading “fake news”.

© Provided by Yahoo! News UK An employee wearing protective gear reads a newspaper at a restaurant only offering take-out orders following the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Amid fears about where the next outbreak of a fast-spreading new virus would appear, infections and deaths continued to rise across the globe Sunday, emptying streets of tourists and workers, shaking economies and rewriting the realities of daily life. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Drinking water can prevent coronavirus

Facebook posts shared thousands of times in various countries claim that drinking water can prevent coronavirus.

Many posts present the information as “health bulletins” from the officials in Canada or the Philippines.

However, authorities have issued no such advice.

Chinese spies stole the disease from Canada

Websites and social media users claim that the new coronavirus discovered in the city of Wuhan may have been created in Canada and stolen by Chinese spies.

Kyle Bass, an American hedge fund manager, falsely claimed on Twitter that a “Chinese spy team” sent pathogens “to the Wuhan facility” in a post that was retweeted 12,000 times.

However, the Canadian health and federal police officials say it has no factual basis.

Heat can kill the virus

Misleading posts appearing in several places online claim that “drinking warm water” and going “under the sunlight” are effective preventive practices.

One post also states that “coronavirus is not heat resistant and can be killed in high temperatures.”

But there is so far no conclusive evidence to suggest that sunlight kills the virus or that the virus would be less infectious in rising temperatures - according to the World Health Organization (WHO).