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As the novel coronavirus continues to infect multitude around the world , news article and societal media Emily Price Post about the outbreak continue to spread out online . Unfortunately , this relentless flood of information can make it hard to separate fact from fiction — and during a viral eruption , hearsay and misinformation can be unsafe .
Here at Live Science , we ’ve compile a inclination of the most permeative myths about the fresh coronavirus SARS - CoV-2 and COVID-19 , the disease it causes , and explained why these hearsay are misleading , or just plain wrong .
In a new visualization, researchers simulated a cough, which appears as a glowing green vapor flowing from a mannequin’s mouth. The visualizations shows that face masks dramatically reduce the spread of cough droplet particles, from 12 feet without a mask to just a few inches with a mask.
Myth: The virus is just a mutated form of the common cold
No , it ’s not . Coronavirus is a expectant family of viruses that admit many different disease . SARS - CoV-2 does sharesimilarities with other coronaviruses , four of which can cause the common cold . All five viruses have spiky projection on their control surface and use so - calledspike proteinsto infect innkeeper cell . However , the four moth-eaten coronaviruses — named 229E , NL63 , OC43 and HKU1 — all utilise humans as their primary hosts . SARS - CoV-2 shares about 90 % of its transmissible textile with coronaviruses that infect bats , which suggests that the virusoriginated in bats and later hopped to mankind .
grounds hint that the virus happen through an medium animal before infect humans . likewise , the SARS virus jumped from cricket bat to civets ( modest , nocturnal mammals ) on its way into people , whereas MERS infected camels before spreading to human race .
Myth: The virus was probably made in a lab
No evidence hint that the computer virus is serviceman - made . SARS - CoV-2 closely resemble two other coronaviruses that have triggered outbreaks in late decennary , SARS - CoV and MERS - CoV , and all three viruses seem to have originated in bat . In short , the characteristics of SARS - CoV-2 downslope in contrast with what we know about other course occurring coronaviruses that made the parachuting from animals to people .
A field of study publish March 17 in the journal Nature Medicine also render strong evidence against the " engineer in a lab " idea . The study found that a key part of SARS - CoV-2 , known as the spike protein , would almost sure enough have emerged in nature and not as a science lab creation , Live Science antecedently reported . What ’s more , if scientists were prove to habituate data processor models to engineer a deadly virus ground on the original SARS virus , they likely would not have chosen the mutant that actually seem in SARS - CoV-2 . That ’s because computer simulation show that mutation in SARS - CoV-2 do n’t seem to work very well at helping the computer virus bind to human cells , Live Science antecedently reported . But it turns out , nature is smarter than scientists , and the novel coronavirus found a way of life to mutate that was better — and entirely different — from anything scientists could have predicted or create , the study found .
Myth: Pets can spread the new coronavirus
Although pets may contract COVID-19 in rarified cases , there is no evidence they can propagate it to people .
There have been a few news report of cats and bounder that became infected with COVID-19 after physical contact with their sick possessor . For example , in April , two favourite cats in New York tested positive for COVID-19 , and the proprietor of one of these cats was confirmed to have COVID-19 before the cat showed symptom , Live Science previously reported .
Even if positron emission tomography do once in a while become septic , theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC)says there is no grounds that they are playing a significant role in the spread head of the virus . And so far , there have been no confirm write up of people contracting the disease from pets .
In a new visualization, researchers simulated a cough, which appears as a glowing green vapor flowing from a mannequin’s mouth. The visualizations shows that face masks dramatically reduce the spread of cough droplet particles, from 12 feet without a mask to just a few inches with a mask.
Just in guinea pig , the CDC recommends that citizenry with COVID-19 have someone else walk and handle for their fellow animals while they are sick . And people should always wash their hands after snuggle with brute anyway , as associate favorite can spread other diseases to people , according to the CDC .
Myth: Kids can’t catch the coronavirus
tiddler can definitely catch COVID-19 , although reports of serious illness in children are rare .
ACDC studyof more than 1.3 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. from January through May found that the rate of confirmed infection in nipper under age 9 was 52 cases per 100,000 people in that universe of nestling ; that ’s compared with an average of 400 cases ( of any geezerhood ) per 100,000 the great unwashed in the U.S. population as a whole .
AnotherCDC studyfound that among 52,000 report COVID-19 deaths from February through May , just 16 death were reported in masses under age 18 .
In a new visualization, researchers simulated a cough, which appears as a glowing green vapor flowing from a mannequin’s mouth. The visualizations shows that face masks dramatically reduce the spread of cough droplet particles, from 12 feet without a mask to just a few inches with a mask.
Still , not all children are spared from COVID-19 . In rare compositor’s case , fry with a current or previous COVID-19 contagion have germinate so - called multisystem incendiary syndrome ( MIS - C ) . Symptoms of this syndrome can vary , but patients seem to have symptoms similar to those bump in two uncommon stipulation : toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease , Live Science previously reported . Toxic daze syndrome is a life - threaten condition that ’s cause by toxins produced by sure types of bacterium ; Kawasaki disease is a childhood illness that causes inflammation in blood vessel wall , and in serious cases can cause heart damage .
In a study bring out June 29 inThe New England Journal of Medicine , researchers described 186 cases of MIS - C in 26 states . Of these , nearly 90 % required hospital care , 80 % were admitted to the intensive fear building block and 2 % fail , the author report .
Myth: If you have coronavirus, “you’ll know”
No , you wo n’t . COVID-19 causes a wide range of mountains of symptoms , many of which appear in other respiratory malady such as the flu and the common low temperature . Specifically , common symptom of COVID-19 include fever , cough , headache , sore throat , muscle or body aches , difficulty external respiration , nausea and vomiting . In austere cases , the disease can work up into a serious pneumonia - corresponding illness — but early on , infected hoi polloi may show no symptoms at all .
And some masses never develop symptoms . Exactly how usual symptomless cases are is still being determined , although theCDC estimatesit may be around 40 % of cases .
If you have underlying conditions and milder symptom of the disease , you should look for aesculapian attention at the near hospital , experts told Live Science .
Myth: The coronavirus is less deadly than the flu
Though the decease pace for COVID-19 is unclear , almost all believable research suggests it is much higher than that of the seasonal grippe , which has a death pace of around 0.1 % in the U.S. , Live Science antecedently report .
Among report COVID-19 cases in the U.S. , about 4 % have expire , agree to data from Johns Hopkins University . This is what ’s known as the eccentric fatality rate , which is find by divide the number of deaths by the total phone number of confirm subject . But the case fatality rate is confine for a few reasons . First , not everyone with COVID-19 is being diagnose with the disease — this is in part due to testing limitations in the U.S. and the fact that people who experience mild or moderate symptoms may not seek out examination . As the act of confirmed lawsuit run up , the human death rate may decrease .
Many studies estimate that around 0.5 % to 1 % of people infected with COVID-19 will die from the disease , agree toNature News . Even a death rate around 1 % is still 10 times higher than that of the flu .
It ’s also significant to observe that estimates of flu unwellness and death from the CDC are just that — estimates ( which make certain assumptions ) rather than naked as a jaybird numbers . ( The CDC does not know the precise numeral of people who become nauseated with or cash in one’s chips from the flu each year in the U.S. Rather , this number is estimated based on datum gather on flu hospitalizations through surveillance in 13 states . ) Researchers emphasize this point in a late paper published in the diary JAMA Internal Medicine , describe how they find that , in the U.S. , there were 20 times more deaths per week from COVID-19 than from the grippe in the deadliest week of an average grippe time of year , Live Science antecedently reported .
Myth: Vitamin C supplements will stop you from catching COVID-19
Researchers have yet to findany evidencethat vitamin coulomb supplements can fork out masses resistant to COVID-19 infection . In fact , for most masses , taking additional vitamin light speed does not evenward off the common coldness , though it may shorten the length of a cold if you view one .
That said , vitamin Cserves essential roles inthe human bodyand supports normal immune office . As an antioxidant , the vitamin neutralizes charge particle called innocent radical that can damage tissues in the trunk . It also helps the torso synthesize hormones , build collagen and seal off vulnerable connective tissue against pathogen .
So yes , vitamin cytosine should perfectly be included in your day-by-day diet if you want to uphold a healthyimmune system . But megadosing on supplements is unlikely to lower your jeopardy of catching COVID-19 , and may at most give you a " low " advantage against the virus , should you become infected . No grounds suggests that other so - called immune - boosting supplements — such as zinc , green tea or genus Echinacea — aid to forbid COVID-19 , either .
Be mistrustful of products being advertised as treatment or cures for the new coronavirus . Since the COVID-19 eruption lead off in the United States , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) and the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) have alreadyissued warning letters to seven companiesfor selling fallacious products that promise to bring around , deal or foreclose the viral infection .
Myth: It’s not safe to receive a package from China
It is safe to receive missive or packages fromChina , according to the World Health Organization . old enquiry has rule that coronaviruses do n’t survive long on objects such as letters and packages . Based on what we know about similar coronaviruses such as MERS - CoV and SARS - CoV , experts think this new coronavirus likely make it poorly on surface .
A past study found that these touch on coronaviruses can quell on surface such as metallic element , glass or plastic for as farseeing as nine days , according to a field published Feb. 6 inThe Journal of Hospital Infection . But the surface present in publicity are not idealistic for the computer virus to survive .
For a computer virus to remain viable , it necessitate a combining of specific environmental conditions such as temperature , lack of UV exposure and humidness — a combining you wo n’t get in shipping computer software , consort to Dr. Amesh A. Adalja , Senior Scholar , Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security , who spoke with Live Science ’s babe siteTom ’s Hardware .
And so " there is likely very low-toned risk of cattle ranch from product or promotion that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures,“according to the CDC . " Currently , there is no grounds to indorse transmitting of COVID-19 assort with imported goodness , and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goodness . " Rather , the coronavirus is think to be most commonly spread through respiratory droplets .
Myth: You can get the coronavirus if you eat at Chinese restaurants in the US
No , you ca n’t . By that logic , you ’d also have to avoid Italian , Korean , Nipponese and Iranian restaurants , give that those countries have also been facing an outbreak . The new coronavirus does n’t just affect people of Taiwanese origin .
Myth: Drinking bleach or other disinfectants can protect you from COVID-19
You dead should not drink bleach or other household disinfectants , and you should also not spray them on your torso . These substances are venomous if ingested , and they can also cause damage to the skin and middle , concord to the World Health Organization .
When absorb , sodium hypochlorite ( household bleach ) can get what is called " liquefactive gangrene , " or a process that ensue in the transformation of tissue into a liquid sticky mass , Live Science previously reported . The bleach can also damage cell as the sodium reacts with proteins and fats in a mortal ’s tissues in a operation called saponification ( soap ) , medical doctors reported in 2018 in a publishing by theEmergency Medicine Residents ' Association .
Alarmingly , about 4 in 10 American grownup in a late survey reported engaging in dangerous cleanup practices to preclude COVID-19 , such as washing food with bleach , using household disinfect products on their skin or deliberately inhaling megrims from cleaning products , Live Science previously reported .
Myth: Drinking alcohol and eating garlic can protect you from COVID-19
consume sure foods , such as alcohol or garlic , will not protect you from the novel coronavirus . Although alcohol - base script sanitizers figure out to disinfect your hide , alcohol does not have this effect on your body when it is ingested , agree to WHO . Indeed , grievous use of alcohol can in reality dampen yourimmune systemand reduce your trunk ’s ability to make do with infective diseases . And although garlic may have some antimicrobial belongings , there is no evidence that it can protect against COVID-19 , WHO says .
Myth: 5G networks can spread the new coronavirus
computer virus , include SARS - CoV-2 , can not travel on or transmit throughradio wavesor Mobile River networks such as5 G networks , harmonize to WHO . The new coronavirus is spread chiefly through respiratory droplet that are expelled when an septic person cough , sneeze or mouth , as well as through polluted surfaces . WHO also notes that COVID-19 has been spreading in body politic that do not have 5 G mobile networks .
Myth: Exposure to high temperatures prevents COVID-19
exhibit yourself to the sun or warm temperatures will not protect you against COVID-19 , agree to WHO . you may still catch the disease no matter how hot it is — indeed , the computer virus is spread even in field with very blistering atmospheric condition , such as Arizona . Taking a spicy bathing tub will also not preclude COVID-19 , WHO says .
Myth: Wearing masks can cause CO2 poisoning
Wearing medical masks for long geological period may be uncomfortable for some , but it does not cause oxygen deficiency or C dioxide ( CO2 ) intoxication ( when too much CO2 builds up in the bloodstream ) , according to WHO . The same apply for N95 masks and material face covering , according toHealthline .
" Rebreathing tiny amounts of CO2 from jade either in good order fit N95 respirators or more generally fit cloth or surgical masks is of no business organization for the vast , vast absolute majority of people , " Darrell Spurlock Jr. , the director of the Leadership Center for Nursing Education Research at Widener University in Pennsylvania , told Healthline . " The ' dose ' of CO2 we might rebreathe while block out is apace and well eliminate by both the respiratory and metabolic systems in the physical structure . "
When you wear a mask , you should verify it has a snug burst but allows you to breathe normally , WHO says .
Tia Ghose , Yasemin Saplakoglu , Nicoletta Lanese , Rachael Rettner and Jeanna Bryner contributed to this article .
Originally published onLive Science .
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