Water used in an islamic ablution ritual can kill the novel coronavirus.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading report:, The report’s Indonesian language headline translates to English as: “Dr Luthfi Parewangi Says Wudhu Can Destroy Coronavirus”., Wudhu, or wudu, is an Islamic ablution ritual required before performing certain acts particularly worship. The practice is performed using plain water; the steps on how to perform it can be read\xa0here., Part of the report translates to English as:\xa0“In response to that matter, an internist in Makassar, Dr. dr Luthfi Parewangi, SpPD, said that Indonesian people do not have to worry about the virus., “In his opinion, Indonesia is a country with abundance of water. He explained that coronavirus will be destroyed with water. One thing that can be done, particularly by Muslims, is to maintain ablution.”, Similar claims citing the same doctor were also\xa0published in other reports, including by\xa0Koran Seruya and Asianmuslim.com, and in Facebook posts here, here\xa0and here.\xa0Posts on Twitter\xa0here, here\xa0and here\xa0also shared a link to a report that contained a similar claim., However, the claim is false., “There has not been any scientific evidence to suggest that coronavirus can be killed with plain water,” Dr Dirga Sakti Rambe, an internist and vaccinologist with OMNI Pulomas Hospital in Jakarta, told AFP via WhatsApp on March 11, 2020., "Similarly, the\xa0World Health Organizations (WHO) representative in Indonesia told AFP by\xa0email on March 12, 2020, that “in order to kill the virus, WHO recommends that you wash your hands with soap and water or clean them regularly with an alcohol-based hand rub.”", The agency also recommends that people “clean surfaces regularly with disinfectant -- for example kitchen benches and work desks.”, "The same hand washing recommendation is also published on the WHOs official prevention guidelines\xa0here.", Below is a screenshot\xa0guidelines:, Moreover, the Indonesian Health Ministry also\xa0tweeted\xa0a video about\xa0how to prevent the coronavirus infection, which includes\xa0“washing hands with soap and flowing water”., The ministry also advises\xa0mosques to “maintain hygiene at ablution areas and toilets with disinfectant”., The coronavirus\xa0has infected more than 191,000 people and killed more than 7,800 worldwide since\xa0it was first detected\xa0in the Chinese city of Wuhan\xa0in late 2019, according to this WHO\xa0report on March 18, 2020., , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
Health experts warn using water in an ablution ritual alone cannot kill the novel coronavirus | AFP Fact Check