Health minister’s Covid-19 prevention tip doesn’t hold water

Surgeon Dr Amalina Bakri has debunked the health minister’s advice to drink warm water as a means to prevent Covid-19 infection.

“Not recommended by doctors and it is not evidence-based,” she said on Twitter, responding to another tweet sharing the minister Dr Adham Baba’s advice.

The World Health Organisation had also debunked a similar myth on Feb 26.

“While staying hydrated by drinking water is important for overall health, it doesn’t prevent coronavirus infection,” WHO’s Western Pacific chapter said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Amalina added, “No matter where you heard this tip (on drinking water) even if it was on national TV, the tip is a myth.

“The correct tips are to look after hygiene, wash hands, avoid touching the face, practice cough etiquette, staying at home, and maintain social distancing of at least one metre.

“Just to be clear, heat at about 60 degrees Celsius can inactivate the virus outside the body, but once it is inside, the hot water will not weaken the virus.

“There is also no evidence that acid in your stomach can kill the virus.

“Having said that, drinking water is good t keep you hydrated, but it will not inactivate the virus in any way,” he said.

Separately, there is also emerging evidence suggesting that Covid-19 can cause symptoms in the digestive tract, such as diarrhoea.

A draft report on Covid-19 patients in Hubei, China, said such symptoms are common, but the joint report by WHO and China said diarrhoea is reported in only 3.7 percent of cases.

During an interview on TV1 yesterday, Adham (above) advocated drinking warm water as a way to prevent Covid-19 infection.

“This virus doesn’t like high temperatures, but not use temperatures that are too hot.

“The virus will be eliminated, eliminated, and end up in the stomach. If it ends up in the stomach, there is acid and they lose.

“The important thing is to eliminate the virus from the throat before it enters the lungs because it loves the lower respiratory tract,” he said, while drinking from a glass.

Meanwhile in a TV1 news segment before the interview, Adham also said China has a social responsibility to help countries affected by Covid-19 because the virus was ‘exported’ from there.

This is in light of the fact that the crisis in China has largely been dissipated.

“China has managed to bring down its infections and perhaps they can deploy their unused assets. Our Wisma Putra has to get in touch with their foreign ministry.

“Because they, who are responsible for exporting the coronavirus to other countries, have a large social responsibility in this world,” he said when asked whether Malaysia needs international assistance.

He added that Malaysia is in need of many assets such as face masks, hand sanitisers and test kits.