Consumers inundated with misinformation about coronavirus

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Wed, November 29, 2023 | 03:51

Health & Science

Consumers inundated with misinformation about coronavirus

Posted : 2020-03-18 16:49

Updated : 2020-03-18 18:09

The World Health Organization states on its website that eating garlic will not prevent coronavirus infection./ Screen capture from www.who.int

By Kim Se-jeong

The coronavirus pandemic is seeing health-conscious people fall for inaccurate information on social media and the internet.

One popular message that went viral on Kakao Talk encourages people to eat more curry powder: "The reason why not many Indians have contracted the coronavirus is that they eat curry powder a lot. Don't rely on government guidelines alone but try to eat more curry to protect yourself."

Spraying salt water was another popular piece of information that is inaccurate; and an outbreak at a local church proved this.

A non-denominational church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province sprayed salt water in the mouths of each arriving member on March 1 and 8 and saw tens of its members contract the virus later in the month. So far, 54 people ― church members, their families and acquaintances ― have been infected.

"What happened in the non-denominational church is a good example of how wrong information can increase infection risks," said Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip during a press briefing Tuesday. "Please don't trust information spread through the internet and social media outlets. Please follow government guidelines thoroughly."

The government is not alone in this fight. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also fighting against misinformation.

On its website, the WHO states that eating garlic, using a hand dryer or an ultraviolet disinfectant lamp and taking a hot bath will not prevent infection.

"Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus," it said.

An infectious disease expert, Kim Woo-joo, from the Korea University Guro Hospital said people have always fallen blindly for wrong information during a public health crisis.

"Whenever there's an infectious disease outbreak, people talk about immunity boosting and some produce misinformation and people go crazy for it. And the misinformation spreads faster than real information."

skim@koreatimes.co.kr