Fact Check: Post claiming gargling with warm salt water can save from coronavirus is fake

A viral post on social media claims that coronavirus remains in the throat for four days before it reaches the lungs. It further states that if the infected person drinks a lot of water and gargles with warm water & salt or vinegar it eliminates the virus. Vishvas News investigated and found reports that refuted the viral claim. As per health experts, you can soothe a sore throat by gargling with warm water, but it isn’t a cure of coronavirus.

Claim

A viral post shared on Facebook by a page named दादी माँ के घरेलु नुस्खे reads:
“Coronavirus remains in the throat for four days before it reaches the lungs it and at this time the person begins to cough and have throat pains. If he drinks water a lot and gargling with warm water & salt or vinegar eliminates the virus. Spread this information because you can save someone with this information.” The post has a great engagement and has been shared by 7.2K users till date. The archived version of the post can be checked here.

Investigation

Vishvas News started its investigation by reading the comments on the viral post. Many users commented on the post that it is fake.

As per the viral post, coronavirus stays in throat for 4 days. When we investigated we found that a report by World Health Organization (WHO) which states most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days. 

We further searched and found a report by World Health Organization (WHO). As per WHO, there is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from novel coronavirus infection. However, there is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. But, that doesn’t mean that it can cure coronavirus.

As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is currently no vaccine to prevent 2019-nCoV infection. 

Vishvas News spoke to Dr. Vimal N., Pharmacovigilance Officer, Ministry of AYUSH. He refuted the claim by saying, “This isn’t a cure for coronavirus.
there is limited evidence that gargling with hot saline water can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. But, that doesn’t mean that it can cure coronavirus.”

Disclaimer: The #CoronavirusFacts database records fact-checks published since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic and its consequences are constantly evolving and data that was accurate weeks or even days ago might have changed. Remember to check the date when the fact-check you are reading was published before sharing it.