A newspaper clipping from Hindi daily Dopehar Ka Saamna suggesting that consumption of alcohol will keep the Coronavirus at bay is misleading. The headline of the article when translated from Hindi reads "Why cry now? Corona will be packed with one peg of alcohol" (Translated from: अब कैसा रोना! एक पेग में पैक होगा कोरोना!
The Shiv Sena mouthpiece published this article on February 14, 2020 stating that the recent strain of Coronavirus is 'allergic to alcohol.'
The clipping is viral with the caption "People who consume alcohol will not be affected by Coronavirus" (Translated from "दारू पीने वालों को नही होगा कोरोना वायरस")
Multiple users on Facebook also shared the clipping.
The article is on the front page of the February 14 edition.
Read the archived version of the story here.
BOOM also received this claim on its WhatsApp helpline for authenticating the veracity of the news.
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Fact Check
The article mentions that researchers have suggested alcohol for keeping the virus away. The headline and the first paragraph of the article indicate that consuming alcohol will also keep the Coronavirus away. It is not clear whether this article is satirical as the lede and the headline mention drinking of alcohol while further in the story the article mentions disinfectants.
The article also mentions that the virus is transmitted within 15 seconds. No such theory about the time taken for transmission of the virus exists currently.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a list of myth busters around COVID-19 along with listing a few hygienic practices to prevent the transmission of the virus.
The WHO does mention the role of alcohol in tackling the Coronavirus but only when it is found in handwashes and hand rubs but does not mention the consumption alcohol to fight COVID-19.
The 2019-novel Coronavirus which has caused the COVID-19 has so far claimed 2012 lives across mainland China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan and has been positively confirmed in over 75,000 people across the world.
There has been multiple misinformation around the ongoing Coronavirus. Misinformation around the sources, prevention and cure of the 2019-nCoV is rampantly circulated on social media.
BOOM has been actively debunking all the misinformation surrounding the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus.
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