COVID-19: myths and other facts we should all know

• Cleveland Clinic clears up some myths about COVID-19 and shares useful facts to avoid misinformation during the pandemic.

May 2020.- When it comes to dealing with COVID-19, we know there are various measures suggested or even ordered by health and government officials to prevent further spread. As the fight against COVID-19 continues, more information and new questions emerge, and it is important to understand what is real and what is not.

 

To help dispel misinformation, Cleveland Clinic has published several articles for the public on claims that have been circulating but are not necessarily true. Here are some examples:

 

Using alcohol as a disinfectant

Several homemade disinfectant recipes using alcohol have emerged in response to growing need. When it comes to alcohol alone, it must be at least 70% alcohol to be effective. On the other hand, using things like vodka is not recommended, as in most cases it contains only 20-30%.

 

Coronavirus on the soles of your shoes

Researchers in Wuhan, China, tested various surfaces in a hospital where COVID-19 patients were being treated and found genetic material from the virus in half of the samples taken from hospital staff’s shoes. Despite these findings, it is not known whether it was stable enough to be infectious and cause illness if someone came into contact with it. Since the virus spreads mainly through droplets from person-to-person contact, it would only be able to cause infection if a person touched that surface directly and then touched their face. It is therefore recommended to clean your shoes after wearing them and avoid wearing the same shoes inside your home.

 

Coronavirus on surfaces

No virus can survive independently: a virus spreads by invading a living host and reproducing itself. Live virus can survive anywhere from three hours to seven days, depending on the material it lands on. Here are some examples:

Glass – 5 days

Wood – 4 days

Plastic and stainless steel – 3 days

Cardboard – 24 hours

Copper surfaces – 4 hours

It is important to bear in mind that the amount of live virus on surfaces decreases over time. Detecting the virus on a surface does not necessarily mean it can make someone ill.

 

Drinking lemon juice to kill the virus

There are a great many different viruses, and some may be more or less susceptible to acidity than others. A study based on pH levels found that the virus can survive in acidic environments. Lemon juice is just an acidic liquid, and the virus was shown to be viable down to a pH of three, which is exactly where lemon juice sits on the pH scale.

So gargling or drinking lemon juice and water will not help kill coronavirus. You cannot change your body’s pH level simply by eating or drinking something.

 

Getting a pneumonia vaccine to protect yourself from the virus

A pneumonia vaccine can help protect you against flu and other types of virus, but not against coronavirus, which can cause pneumonia on its own. Even so, pneumonia vaccination is recommended as a precaution, specifically for people aged 65 or over, smokers aged 19-64, those at higher risk of certain diseases (diabetes and chronic heart, lung and liver disease) and those with weakened immune systems.

 

Pets and coronavirus

One of pet owners’ main concerns was whether or not coronavirus could be passed on to their companions. Canine and feline coronaviruses exist, but they are not the same as the COVID-19 that can affect humans. Under no circumstances should you take medication prescribed for your pet. There is also no evidence that companion animals, imported animals or animal products can spread COVID-19. If you or a loved one has symptoms of COVID-19, it is advisable to be careful and keep away from your pet.

 

Other myths

To address other theories and myths circulating about coronavirus, Cleveland Clinic has identified other common but unproven beliefs about methods that can stop the virus:

 

Hot air or humid climates cannot kill the virus or protect someone from it – hot air or weather does not affect the virus’s infectiousness.

 

Mosquitoes cannot spread coronavirus – COVID-19 is a respiratory virus. While mosquitoes can transmit diseases by sucking someone’s blood and transferring it to another person (such as West Nile or malaria), this virus does not stay in the bloodstream for long, so there is no threat of transmission.

 

Older people are not the only ones at risk of COVID-19 – younger adults can become infected and may experience serious infection. There is plenty of evidence from around the world of young adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s testing positive and experiencing severe symptoms and, in some cases, death.