Will Gargling with Salt Water or Vinegar ‘Eliminate’ the COVID-19 Corona virus?

In the wake of the Corona virus outbreak, many false messages about the prevention and treatment of the illness are going viral on the internet.

CLAIM : 

Gargling with salt water or Vinegar ‘eliminate’ the COVID-19 coronavirus from the throat of an infected person’s system.

RATING :

ORIGIN : 

With the number of COVID-19 cases surging across the world, many unverified home remedies have emerged on social media claiming to neutralize the corona virus. Around the last week of Feb 2020, an image carrying one such remedy is doing the rounds on the Internet saying that one can eliminate the virus by drinking lots of water and gargling with warm water mixed with salt or vinegar.

FACT CHECK : 

While the incubation period for Covid-19 is estimated at about five days on average, there is no evidence that it ‘stays in the throat for four days’. Neither there is any official or medical advisory recommending the use of saline or vinegar to eliminate the virus.

While gargling some combination of warm water, salt, and vinegar has long been used as a means of relieving symptoms related to colds and flus, such as sore throats, there’s no evidence that it can help ward off or drive out infections from the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) explains on its “myth busters” page that there is no evidence that saltwater eliminates coronavirus.

“While staying hydrated by drinking water is important for overall health, it does not prevent coronavirus infection,” said WHO.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has also debunked this rumour that coronavirus can be treated by gargling with warm water mixed with salt and vinegar.