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Can Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, be cured by gargling salt or vinegar water?
This is the claim in an image doing the rounds on social media. It says that before coronavirus reaches the lungs, it remains in the throat for four days. At this stage, the virus can be “eliminated” by gargling with warm water and salt or vinegar.
But the advice is false.
No cure yet for Covid-19
The World Health Organization has said that while some home remedies may give comfort and ease the symptoms of Covid-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease.
The WHO has debunked a similar claim that saline spray, a salt-water solution, could be used to prevent coronavirus infection.
Always be cautious of social media posts offering tips or cures for the coronavirus.
All advice should be confirmed by health experts. – Africa Check
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
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Nigerians eat billions of servings of noodles. So a scare in Asia is causing alarm locally, with officials set to carry out tests.
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Activated charcoal is one of the most medicinal products you can have at home, according to social media posts. Are these claims true?
‘Fraudulent and misleading’: why pricey herbal mix touted as a remedy for HIV falls flat
There is still no cure for the HIV. Expensive treatments advertised on social media that claim otherwise should be ignored.
No publicly available data supports claim that 80% of women who give birth at South African hospital are undocumented Zimbabweans
There is no publicly available data to support the claim, and experts say claims like this encourage medical xenophobia.
Viral home remedy won’t cure your dog’s ‘cat flu’ – and could be toxic
Pet owners are responding to a home concoction shared on social media. But they are well-advised to steer clear.
FACTSHEET: What you should know about Marburg virus disease as Nigeria raises the alarm
Marburg disease, caused by a virus related to Ebola, is rare but severe, and often fatal. But what is Marburg and how does it spread?
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