No Evidence to Suggest ‘Alcohol Consumption Cures COVID-19’

Health experts and WHO have cautioned people against believing in such hack remedies.

Many users on social media are sharing screenshots of a bulletin of Hindi news channel AajTak with a claim that alcohol has the potential to “destroy the virus within a second of coming in contact with it.”

(Photo: WhatsApp/Altered by The Quint)

Alcohol has become the latest entrant to the list of ‘hack remedies and cures for coronavirus’ with many users on social media sharing screenshots of a bulletin of Hindi news channel AajTak with a claim that alcohol has the potential to “destroy the virus within a second of coming in contact with it.”

However, The Quint found that not only are the screenshots being shared without context, the fact that alcohol has any potential to cure COVID holds absolutely no scientific ground.

THE CLAIM

The screenshots which are viral on WhatsApp and Facebook are being shared with a text which translates to: “Pegs of alcohol can help destroy coronavirus.”

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Faceboook/Screenshot)

An archived version of the Tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Source: WhatsApp/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND

First, we decided to check if a bulletin with the aforementioned graphics was aired by AajTak. A keyword search using the terms “ शराब के पैग लगाने से कोरोना वायरस का खात्मा? + AajTak” helped us find the bulletin from which the screenshots have been taken.

The aforementioned screenshots appear at 44 seconds and 3 minutes 25-second marks in the above video. The bulletin is a part of a segment called Viral Test in which the channel investigates the truth behind viral social media claims.

When we watched the entire segment we found that the screenshots are being shared without context as the entire segment is aimed at debunking the claim. The video states that the viral claim of alcohol being a cure for coronavirus stems from a research by scientists from Germany which advocates the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

Next, we found an advisory issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) against the consumption of alcohol to cure COVID.

(Source: WHO)

We also reached out Dr Suranjit Chatterjee from Apollo Hospital who cautioned against alcohol consumption to cure coronavirus.

“There is no scientific evidence to back this claim and it should be nipped in the bud. Many people are using coronavirus as an excuse to consume alcohol. It does not in any way help in curing or preventing COVID infection.”

Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, Apollo Hospital

Clearly, there is no evidence to suggest that alcohol consumption can help cure or prevent coronavirus infection.

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