At least 44 people die from poisoning in an attempt to cure coronavirus

At least 44 people have died in Iran after drinking bootleg alcohol following rumours it would cure or prevent coronavirus infection, local media reported.

The rumour started circulating in Iran, where more than 8000 people have been affected by the virus.

Alcohol is prohibited in the Islamic province for everyone except some non-Muslim minorities, however, according to the Associated Press, local media will often report on deaths relating to bootleg alcohol.

Iran Health Ministry official Ali Ehsanpour said homemade brews made in the city of Ahvaz, in the country’s south, substituted toxic methanol for ethanol and used bleach to disguise the colour.

The highest poisoning rate was in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, where at least 30 people died, according to state media, which is more than the 18 people who have died from the coronavirus in the city.

Some people have also been hospitalised.

Seven bootleggers have been arrested, according to local media.

Coronavirus has spread to all 31 provinces in Iran as authorities struggle to contain the spread.

The Islamic Republic has reported 8042 cases and the death tolls sits at 291, making it the hardest-hit country in the Middle East.

Doctors and nurses to be recognised as ‘martyrs’

Iran has announced doctors and nurses who die trying to combat the coronavirus will be recognised as ‘martyrs’, just like slain soldiers, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced.

The decision by the supreme leader comes amid a propaganda campaign already trying to link the fight against the virus to Iran’s long, bloody 1980s war with Iraq, according to the Associated Press.

Rumours of alcohol killing the coronavirus has spread outside of Iran, with the Time of India reporting that WhatsApp users are suggesting drinking alcohol to kill the virus.

The World Health Organisation has debunked such rumours.

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WHO has also had to debunk other rumours of spraying alcohol or chlorine over your body can kill viruses, which are yet to enter the body.

Previously the French government was forced to issue a warning that cocaine does not in fact protect against the COVID-19 disease.

How to actually protect yourself from the coronavirus

One of the most effective ways of warding off the virus is to wash your hands regularly or use an alcohol-based hand rub, although WHO warns spraying pure alcohol and chlorine can be harmful to clothes of mucous membranes.

“Be aware that both alcohol and chlorine can be useful to disinfect surfaces, but they need to be used under appropriate recommendations,” it said.

The vast majority of people who contract the coronavirus recover and it has been observed mainly the elderly are at risk of dying from the disease.

WHO has said people with a mild form of the illness recover in about two weeks and those with more severe cases can take between three and six weeks.

In China, where the outbreak originated, more than 80,000 people who have been diagnosed and now more than 58,000 of those cases have recovered.

– with AP

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