A video clip of a man sharing false information on Coronavirus has gone viral on social media. The viral clip, made on video-sharing social media app TikTok, is accompanied by a message that reads 'Some important information from Kasturba Hospital corona chief Doctor. Please listen carefully and follow if you have any symptoms. Please Share maximum'. BOOM found that, both, the information shared in the video and caption accompanying it are false.
The 30-second-long video shows a man, with a face mask on, saying 'According to information till now, Coronavirus stays in the throat for four days before infecting the lungs. This leads to coughing, throat infection and pain. If the infected person drinks a lot of water, gargles with salt-and-vinegar hot water, Coronavirus can be cured. Please share this widely. Help save someone's life'.
Also read False: Salt Or Vinegar Warm Water Gargle Eliminates The Coronavirus
Watch the video below and check its archived version here.
Some important information from
— Leora Sinha 🖤 (@leorasinha) March 23, 2020
Kasturba Hospital corona chief Doctor☝
Please listen carefully and follow if you have any symptoms.
Please Share maximum.#AsimRiaz#COVIDー19 #KallaSohnaNai pic.twitter.com/MvmdYUHzco
Also read Message Claiming Coronavirus Can Last Up To 8 Hours In Air Is Misleading
Similar claims have also been shared from several Twitter handles earlier too.
Another simple way to combat #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/BspNMrFFHp
— MadhuPurnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) March 21, 2020
Just a friendly reminder. In addition to washing hands, keeping distance to wearing mask:
— XareP (@JohnSmi13108865) March 21, 2020
1. Drink warm water often
2. Gargle with warm salted water a few times a day.#CoronaVirus #XRPcommunity #XRPtheStandard pic.twitter.com/bpLbZs9ucK
Also read Coronavirus LIVE Update: India's Cases Rise To 492
Fact Check
The viral claim that gargling with hot salt-vinegar water helps cure Coronavirus has been debunked earlier too.
BOOM checked the official recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO) under 'Protection Measures for Everyone' and did not find 'gargling' or 'drinking hot water' in the list. Further, an AFP Fact Check mentions that gargling with hot water is not a remedy for novel coronavirus, a dreaded disease that has killed 17,156 worldwide and 9 in India till now.
The viral clip meanwhile led BOOM to the original TikTok account - that of Subhasha Yadav - where the video was first shared. Yadav has made several TikTok videos related to Coronavirus, as can be seen from his feed.
Watch the original video here.
Subhasha Yadav had lip-synced a pre-recorded message for this viral clip. When we traced the source of the pre-recorded audio clip, BOOM found a total of 6,165 videos with the same message. The videos can be viewed here.
BOOM also contacted Dr Chandrakant Pawar, Public Relations Officer at Kasturba hospital to get more information on the video. We could not reach him. We will update this report as soon as we hear from him.