Will Gargling with Salt Water or Vinegar ‘Eliminate’ the COVID-19 Coronavirus?







What works for colds is unlikely to help an already-infected person stave off the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.







































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["Gargling with salt water or Vinegar 'eliminate' the COVID-19 coronavirus from the throat of an infected person's system.", 'The COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic of early 2020 brought a raft of dubious and false medical advice about the prevention and treatment of the illness to the internet, among which was one widely circulated graphic advocating that persons exposed to the virus try gargling various substance to ‘eliminate’ the virus and prevent it from reaching the lungs via the throat:', '“Corona virus before it reaches the lungs it remains in the throat for four days 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.”', '', 'While gargling some combination of warm water, salt, and vinegar has long been used as a means of relieving symptoms related to colds and flus, such as sore throats, there’s no evidence that it can help ward off or drive out infections from the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.  And although the virus is said to replicate in the nose and nasal secretions, we’ve found nothing documenting the notion that the current coronavirus “remains in the throat for four days” and can be effectively expelled at the conclusion of that time period to keep it from reaching the lungs.  (The incubation period for this virus, which is the time between when a person is exposed to the virus and when they start showing symptoms, has been estimated at about five days on average.)', 'The World Health Organization’s (WHO) website offers a page offering COVID-19 coronavirus disease advice for the public which addresses the substance of this rumor in an item about rinsing nasal passages (which are connected to the throat) with saline:', 'There is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the new coronavirus.', 'There is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent respiratory infections.', '', '', '', '', 'Colvin, Jill and Aamer Madhani. \xa0 “Trump Tests Negative for Virus; White House Begins Screening.”\n\xa0 \xa0 Associated Press. \xa0 13 March 2020.', 'World Health Organization. \xa0 “Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Advice for the Public: Myth Busters.”\n\xa0 \xa0 Accessed 14 March 2020.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', 'A complete story is rarely told in a headline.', 'Social media rumors that two memorials in New York were vandalized proved misleading.', 'In August 2019, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man died after an encounter with police officers in Aurora, Colorado.', 'A chaotic scene in St. Louis sparked outrage, memes, and confusion.', 'Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on sex abuse charges connected to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.', 'The white supremacist group made frequent use of the slogan more recently embraced by President Donald Trump, though they did not, as some claim, invent it.', "The question of past arrests often surfaces among people who want to rationalize police officers' actions when Black men are killed in custody.", 'You can claim anything if you remove the barrier of evidence.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', '© 1995 - 2020 by Snopes Media Group Inc.', 'This material may not be reproduced without permission.', 'Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com']
Will Gargling with Salt Water or Vinegar 'Eliminate' the COVID-19 Coronavirus?