Fake coronavirus cures on social media include ginger, honey & hot air

Social media is full of cures for coronavirus, you will be spoilt for choice with ginger to honey, hot air and even sex.

Fake cures are spreading faster than the Wuhan virus but do not fall for it. Forget about making you healthy, the Whatsapp cures will sure make you look stupid. 

Alcohol is a miracle cure at least that's what a Whatsapp forward claims and thousands in Iran believed as over 700 died of alcohol poisoning in the country.

In India, kadha is the magic word. It is a decoction made of basil, cinnamon, black pepper, dry ginger and raisin and it is now being pegged as a cure for COVID-19. The truth is - the decoction may help boost your immunity but is no cure for the virus. 

Social media, and family groups are almost certain about the "magical combination" of turmeric, cumin and garlic. India's Ayush ministry claims so they say.

Here is a fact-check: Turmeric, cumin, and garlic are part of the Ayush ministry's advisory but the advisory is for boosting immunity. The advisory does not claim to be a treatment for coronavirus.

Another fake cure involves gargling with warm water, salt or vinegar can beat the coronavirus. The fact is gargling is recommended for a sore throat but there is no evidence that it can prevent COVID-19. Also doing the rounds is the combination of rasam and rice. Rasam is spicy and savory, but not the best ammo against a deadly virus.

A bizarre news report claims that sex can cure coronavirus, apparently, the heat produced by the body can kill the virus. Is a fact check required for it? Apply the logic of social distancing you will have the answer.

One Whatsapp forward says breathe in hot air from hairdryer to cure COVID-19. The obsession with temperature aside, this so-called cure challenges one's basic intelligence, no amount of breathing in hot air can cure you of coronavirus.

Then there are leaders leading the misinformation campaign. US President Donald Trump promotes hydroxychloroquine. The anti-malaria drug is not a proven cure for COVID-19, plus, it has some serious side-effects.

Tanzania's President Pombe Magufuli is another peddler of fake news. The president says that lemon and ginger can cure coronavirus.