Story:
AIIMS Medical Team Declared Drinking Palm Wine Kills Coronavirus
Other Versions
(Telugu)
తాటికల్లుతో కరోనా ఖతం
తేల్చి చెప్పిన ఎయిమ్స్ వైద్యబందం
కృతఙ్ఞతలు తెలిపిన గౌడ సంఘం నేతలు
Fact Check:
A picture message doing rounds on WhatsApp purports to show a Telugu newspaper clipping saying a medical team of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Declared Drinking Palm Wine Kills Coronavirus. It says they discovered the naturally occurring palm wine has the properties to prevent Coronavirus infection. No, the claims are not true and explained here.
Palm Wine Kills Coronavirus?
Apart from the claims, the accompanying image with the story doing rounds on WhatsApp mentions in heading Gowda Sangam leaders thanked the declaration of AIIMS. Gowda Sangam and Geetha Kaarmikulu comprises of the people who work to sap, extract and sell palm wine (or toddy). It goes on to suggest (Kallu) Palm Wine works as Ayurvedic medicine in killing the dangerous Coronavirus and is better than Alcohol. The clipping appears like a report on Manam News published on 6th March 2020.
We searched; the E-paper of Telugu language Manam News on the date does not contain any such report about AIIMS experts declaring Palm Wine Kills Coronavirus. There is no information about it on the website of AIIMS, New Delhi aiims.edu. In fact, there are no credible reports on successful prevention or treatment of Coronavirus using Palm Wine.
Can Alcohol Prevent Coronavirus Infection?
On the other hand, some stories doing rounds online ask people to ‘drink Alcohol to stay safe and kill the deadly Coronavirus’. There are also messages asking people to Spray Alcohol or Chlorine all over body to kill the new strain Coronavirus, COVID-19. Both of them are not facts, according to World Health Organization website WHO.int. Spraying the substances can also harm your clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth). Both Alcohol and Chlorine can be useful to disinfect surfaces, but they should be used under appropriate recommendations.
Following the rumor saying drinking alcohol will kill Coronavirus COVID-19, some Iranians consumed industrial alcohol as preventive measure. Iran has a ban on Alcohol, so they took the industrial one sold in the market for sanitizing purposes. Consequently, more than 218 Iranians were hospitalized from alcohol poisoning and at least 27 people died overnight. abc News website abcnews.go.com reported the incident in early March 2020.
To Conclude
Coming to the story in question, there are spelling mistakes in the Telugu ‘news report’ and it also carries the date before the report, which is not usual inside a newspaper. So, the claims a medical team of AIIMS declared drinking Palm Wine kills or prevents Coronavirus infection are hoaxes. Looks like, the message circulating on WhatsApp is just a ‘promotional’ item for Palm wine. The best way to protect yourself from Coronavirus infection is to take necessary precautions.
For your information, Thaati Kallu (Palm Wine from Toddy Palmyra trees) is a stronger and intoxicating version of the toddy when compared to Eetha Kallu (from Silver Date Palms). Apart from the alcoholic content, Palm Wine also has some nutrients beneficial to health when taken in fresh and pure form. It is a popular drink in rural parts of India frequently consumed at the end of the day after work. People consume it in homes and at social events also in traditional ceremonies popular in many cultures.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
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