The novel coronavirus has thus far affected thousands of people. Being an epidemic, the disease has created a great hype around the globe. Common symptoms of the disease include flu-like feelings, fever, shortness of breath, cough, and so on. In some of the extreme cases, patients may have to suffer from pneumonia and kidney problems. Since it is a contagious disease, it has propagated is a sense of great panic around the world. Among several other countries, China is the most affected one. The hospitals of China are full of coronavirus patients and traveling has been banned to stop the disease from spreading to other countries. Hubei, which is a province of China, is the main center of the disease. The total number of patients in China has now reached 70,548 out of which 2,048 are from Hubei. The Chinese government took urgent action to control the situation and called foreign scientists to join their team. They have somehow managed to control this epidemic and the number of cases is not increasing. However, the virus has spread to other countries and every day a new patient is being diagnosed in one or another. This emergency has resulted in shortness of things like masks, toilet papers, hand gloves, and so on. There is a dire need to spread awareness about the virus and educate people to stay calm in this situation. Instead of storing masks for the whole family, it is essential to give the masks to the patients, doctors, and staff. Besides this, it is important to stay calm and help others in need, rather than spreading fake news and creating panic for everyone. Since the origin of the coronavirus outbreak is in China, some people have a misconception that having Chinese food will increase their chances of catching the virus. Many Chinese restaurants noticed a decrease in their sales after the spread of this disease and a lot of sushi delivery services also experienced a lapse. There seems to be a fear in people for consuming Chinese food and they are refraining from placing orders. Not only is this, but there are many other misconceptions about the virus. Let’s take a look at some of them below:
Myth: “Eating meat can cause coronavirus”
Some people have stopped eating meat due to the misconception of relating meat consumption with the virus. Though it cannot be denied that the virus originated from the Chinese wet market, where people were surrounded by animals – both alive and dead. However, it does not have any relation to the consumption of meat. This virus is transferred by an infected person. If the infected person is within 6 feet of another person, there will be high chances of the infection being transferred to the other person. Dr. Robert Ambler told in a conference that the spread of this disease was expected since there were exchanges and commerce happening between people.
Myth: “Imported goods can transfer the virus”
Another concern raised by some people was the spread of the virus through imported goods as these goods are packed in various countries and then dispatched. However, health experts are of the view that the virus cannot live for a long time on hard surfaces. Since imported goods take some time to transfer from one place to another, the virus cannot be transferred through these goods. This virus can only be transferred through close contact with the infected person.
Myth: “Every case of this virus will face death”
Another major misconception about the virus is that it is fatal. In reality, people are not aware of the fact that not all cases of the virus are of an extreme level. This virus can lead to death only in severe cases. This extreme condition is most likely to occur in people above fifty years of age and children below five years of age. This is due to the reason that this age group has a weak immune system thus they are more vulnerable to a serious attack. Antibiotics cannot treat this virus since it is a viral infection and not a bacterial infection.
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Myth: “Algae can treat the virus”
It is known to many that red marine algae can treat some of the viruses. However, it cannot treat this novel virus. There are above 4,000 species of such algae but they can treat only some of the viral infections, not all of them. Experts are of the view that the treatment of coronavirus with algae without any verification is just useless. Some of the holistic healers believe that red algae can treat the disease but scientists think otherwise.
Myth: “Garlic, marijuana, and sesame oil can treat the patients”
We cannot deny the fact that garlic has some great properties that can help in running our hearts and keeping our gut smooth. However, scientists are of the view that garlic cannot treat the Covid-19 virus. The same is the case with sesame oil. Many posts on social media channels suggest that marijuana is the best cure for the virus. However, this is not true. Though marijuana has some antibacterial properties and because of this, some scientists believe that it can cure the diseases which cannot be cured by antibiotics. However, the fact that this virus is not bacterial cannot be denied. It is a viral disease and it will take its time to go. In short, the absolute cure for this virus has not yet been figured out. People are spreading rumors every day but we should focus on prevention. The best we can do is to wash our hands frequently, stay away from people having flu, cover our mouths with masks, use hand sanitizers, get flu shots, focus on improving our immune systems, keep your home carpet clean, and stay at home if we fall sick. In this scenario, where the whole world is fighting against this disease, we should take every preventive step and stop spreading rumors. These rumors are misguiding people and creating confusion, which is of no good.
