KARACHI: As Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads around the world, so do misconceptions about the disease (we have WhatsApp forwarded messages to thank for that). Therefore it is imperative that you understand what is true and what isn’t and be informed when protecting yourself and others.
Face Masks
The biggest myth floating around is that face masks protect you from contracting Coronavirus, which is why people have been buying the masks in bulk.
Fact: It doesn’t. According to John Hopkins Medicine, the disposable surgical masks do NOT protect you from getting the virus but prevent you from spreading it to other people, in case you have it. They don’t fit tightly so droplets could still enter your mouth or nose (which is how the virus spreads).
Tight-fitting models, like the N95, can protect care givers (nurses, doctors) and if everyone buys these, there won’t be enough left for people who do actually need it.
Vitamin C
There’s a misconception floating around that stocking up on Vitamin C will boost your immunity and protect you from the virus, but The New York Times disagrees: “There is no evidence that supplements like zinc, green tea and echinacea are beneficial to prevent coronavirus, said Dr. Mark J. Mulligan, M.D., division director of the infectious diseases and vaccine center at NYU Langone Medical Center. ‘I do not recommend spending money on supplements for this purpose.'”
Conspiracy theories
Many people are confused about where the virus has originated from and conspiracy theorists are going as far to say that a group of people specifically created this virus and unleashed it on to the world to control the global population.
The truth is, according to Scripps Research Institute, COVID-19 is a product of natural evolution. The study explains that “Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging widely in severity. The first known severe illness caused by a coronavirus emerged with the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China. A second outbreak of severe illness began in 2012 in Saudi Arabia with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).”
