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Coronavirus: Does drinking tea help? Coronavirus: Herbal remedies in India and other claims fact-checked
(25 days later)
With India now in a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there's been plenty of advice shared on how to prevent or cure the disease. False and misleading information has been spreading on Indian news channels and social media posts as the authorities attempt to control coronavirus with strict restrictions on movement throughout the country.
BBC News has been fact-checking some of the most prominent examples. We've been looking at some of the most prominent examples.
Drinking tea Traditional herbs won't boost your immunity to the virus
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strategy against the coronavirus includes advising citizens to use traditional herbs.
Mr Modi has said people should follow official guidance to use a particular herbal combination known as "kadha" which will "increase immunity."
The immune response is what the body does when it fights off a virus but there is no evidence that it can be boosted in this way, say medical experts.
"The problem is that many of these claims (about certain supplements boosting immunity) have no grounding in evidence," says Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University.
India's Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) promotes traditional healing therapies and lists various practices for boosting the immune system.
Many of these remedies have been promoted by the ministry to specifically ward off the coronavirus.
There is however no scientific evidence that they are effective.
The Indian government's own fact-checking service has already debunked similar health claims, such as around drinking warm water - or gargling with vinegar or salt solutions.
Below, we take a look at one these traditional remedies, the drinking of tea, and how a fake claim originating in China, has been picked up and spread elsewhere, including India.
A non-existent study on the impact of the virus
A popular Hindi TV channel, ABP News, reported there was research to show that if there hadn't been a nationwide lockdown, there would have been 0.8 million people in India infected with coronavirus by 15 April.
The TV channel attributed this figure to a top medical research organisation - the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) information technology chief, Amit Malviya, tweeted out this story, getting thousand of views and retweets.
But the Indian Health Ministry says there's no such study, something which was confirmed by the ICMR itself.
"The ICMR has never carried out any study saying that a lockdown would have had such an impact," Dr Rajnikanth, regional head of research management and policy, told the BBC.
ABP News has stood by its story, despite the Health Ministry denying it.
However, the ministry has acknowledged there had been some "internal research" about predicted infection numbers which has not been made public.
The actual number of infections that there would have been without a lockdown can't be known, of course, as people in India have been under strict restrictions of movement since 25 March.
A fabricated post about tea drinking
"Who would have known that a simple cup of tea would be the solution to this virus.""Who would have known that a simple cup of tea would be the solution to this virus."
This false claim - shared on social media - refers to the Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who was hailed a hero for his efforts to raise the alarm about the virus early on in Wuhan, and who later died of the disease.This false claim - shared on social media - refers to the Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who was hailed a hero for his efforts to raise the alarm about the virus early on in Wuhan, and who later died of the disease.
It claims that in his case files, he had documented evidence that substances commonly found in tea can decrease the impact of the virus - these are known as methylxanthines. It claims that in his case files, the doctor had documented evidence that substances commonly found in tea - known as methylxanthines - can decrease the impact of the virus.
And that hospitals in China started giving Covid-19 patients tea three times a day. The widely shared post also falsely claimed that hospitals in China were giving Covid-19 patients tea three times a day.
It's true that methylxanthines are found in tea, as well as in coffee and chocolate.It's true that methylxanthines are found in tea, as well as in coffee and chocolate.
But there's no evidence Dr Li Wenliang was researching their effect - he was an eye specialist, rather than an expert on viruses. Or that hospitals in China were specifically treating Covid-19 by giving patients tea. But there's no evidence Dr Li Wenliang was researching their effect - he was an eye specialist, rather than an expert on viruses - nor that hospitals in China were treating Covid-19 by giving patients tea.
News reports in China in February also picked up on the claim that tea could be used to stop the virus, but said it was not true.
Cow urine and dung
There is a long tradition in India of promoting cow urine and dung as traditional remedies for various diseases.
And an MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Suman Haripriya, has suggested they could be used against the coronavirus.
There have been previous studies into the potential anti-bacterial properties of cow urine.
And a Hindu nationalist group has held a cow-urine drinking event in the Indian capital, Delhi, to promote its use for tackling the virus.
But Dr Shailendra Saxena, of the Indian Virological Society, told BBC News: "There is no medical evidence to show that cow urine has anti-viral characteristics.
"Moreover, using cow-dung could prove counter-productive as bovine faecal matter could contain a coronavirus which might replicate in humans."
Alcohol-free hand sanitiser
As well as cow-dung soap, Cowpathy has been selling alcohol-free hand sanitiser with "distilled cow urine obtained from indigenous cows" online since 2018.
Currently out of stock, the product page says: "Due to high demand, we are currently limiting the purchase quantity per customer for this product to maximize access for our customers."
Meanwhile, Ramdev, a yoga guru on a popular Hindi news channel, has suggested making herbal hand sanitisers at home.
He also said consuming a mixture of the ayurvedic herb giloy, turmeric and basil leaves could help prevent coronavirus.
But the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say it is important to use alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
And Prof Sally Bloomfield, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says any homemade hand sanitiser will be ineffective as even vodka contains only 40% alcohol.
Vegetarianism
Anil Vij, the Health Minister of Haryana state, in northern India, has made an appeal for people not to eat meat.
"Be vegetarian," he tweeted.
"Do not create viruses like coronavirus, which pose a danger to humanity, by having [meat of] different kinds of animals."
A Hindu nationalist group, meanwhile, claimed the coronavirus had come to punish meat-eaters.
But after the ministry that oversees livestock production said it had led to a fall in the sales of eggs and chicken, the Indian government's fact-checking service posted a rebuttal of the claim.
And government minister Giriraj Singh said the Indian food regulator had found no evidence for it.
'Anti-coronavirus' mattress
The coronavirus pandemic has also led some businesses to sell products they claim can fight the virus.
A 15,000-rupee (£165) "anti-coronavirus" mattress was as advertised virus-resistant, for example.
Arihant Mattresses managing director Amar Parekh told BBC News: "It is anti-fungal, anti-allergic, dustproof and waterproof, so nothing can go inside it."
But the advertisement had now been removed
"I do not want to cause harm to anyone," he said.
"We did not do it after there was a backlash."