- Written by Shruti Menon
- BBC Reality Check, Delhi
image source, Getty Images
False and misleading information is being spread on Indian news channels and social media posts as authorities seek to curb the coronavirus with strict movement restrictions across the country.
We have seen some of the most prominent examples.
Traditional herbs do not increase immunity against viruses
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coronavirus response strategy includes advising people to use traditional herbs.
image source, Getty Images
“The problem is that many of these claims (about certain supplements that boost immunity) are not supported by evidence,” says Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University.
The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) of India promotes traditional healing therapies and enumerates various practices to boost the immune system.
Many of these treatments are being promoted by the ministry specifically to prevent coronavirus.
However, there is no scientific evidence that they are effective.
Below, we take a look at one of these traditional remedies, tea drinking, and how the false claims originating from China have been picked up and spread in other countries, including India.
Non-existent research on the effects of the virus
ABP News, a popular Hindi television channel, reported that research shows that 800,000 people would have been infected with the coronavirus in India by April 15 if there had been no nationwide lockdown. .
The TV station said the figures were from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a top medical research organization.
Amit Malviya, head of information technology for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said: I tweeted this storygarnered thousands of views and retweets.
However, India’s Ministry of Health has said that no such study exists, which has been confirmed by the ICMR itself.
“ICMR has never conducted a study where lockdowns have had such an impact,” Dr Rajinikanth, head of regional research management and policy, told the BBC.
ABP News has stood by the story despite denials from the Ministry of Health.
However, the ministry acknowledged that there had been an “internal investigation” into the estimated number of infections, which has not been made public.
Of course, people in India have been under strict movement restrictions since March 25, so we don’t know the actual number of infections that would have occurred without the lockdown.
Fabricated post about how to drink tea
“Who would have thought that a cup of tea could be the solution to this virus?”
The doctor claims in the docket that he has documented evidence that a substance known as methylxanthine, commonly found in tea, can reduce the effects of the virus.
The widely shared post falsely claimed that Chinese hospitals were giving tea to COVID-19 patients three times a day.
image source, Getty Images
It is true that methylxanthines are found not only in coffee and chocolate, but also in tea.
But there is no evidence that Dr. Li Wenliang studied its effects — he was an ophthalmologist, not a virus expert — and there is no evidence that hospitals in China gave patients the tea to help spread the coronavirus. There is no evidence that it was treating the disease.
