Many posts have been shared on social media, falsely claiming that Israelis have created a "baking-soda and lemon juice home remedy" that prevents people from dying from the coronavirus, reports AFP.
The claim has been circulating social media, having been retweeted on Twitter, and either been copy and pasted or re-shared multiple times on Facebook. It claims the remedy either cures or eliminates the virus, and that due to the remedy Israel has had none of its citizens succumb to the virus.
Moreover, the post instructs people to drink the concoction as a hot tea every afternoon, adding that this is what the Israelis do every night before bed.
"These two components [baking-soda and lemon juice] alkalize the immune system, since when night falls the system becomes acidic and defenses lower," the post claims. Adding that the remedy has been "proven to kill the virus."
Medical health professionals beg to differ.
The World Health Organization stated on their Coronavirus Question and Answer page that "there are no medicines that have been shown to prevent or cure the disease. WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines."
Additionally several health officials reached out to AFP, stating that there is no evidence to prove that the remedy can have any affect on the condition of someone with the virus.
"There is no evidence that any derivative of lemon juice can improve or prevent a COVID-19 infection," Cristian Paredes, a professor of clinical pharmacy at the Catholic University of Chile told the media outlet on May 27, 2020.
Another health official claims that the mixture shouldn't be dangerous."It does not have an effect on the COVID-19 disease," Olosmira Correa, an assistant professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology at the University of Chile told AFP, adding that it "does not improve symptoms or help in any way."
Furthermore, the post adds that "information comes from Israel that this virus does not cause death" owing to effects from the remedy, and that the remedy is the reason why "the people of Israel are relaxed about the virus."However, as of the timing of this writing, the Israeli Health Ministry has reported 308 deaths in Israel attributed to the coronavirus, and just over 21,700 patients in total diagnosed with the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak.
While the claim that Israelis developed a working remedy is false, Israeli scientists and medical teams have made much progress in coronavirus research.
Researchers from the Bar Ilan university have made large steps towards developing a vaccine, by identifying short amino acid sequences – often referred to as the "building blocks of life" – that could help develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus and which they believe could stop the next outbreak.
Meanwhile researchers from Hadassah-University Medical Center have cracked the reason behind one of the coronavirus' fatal symptoms: blood clots. Additionally the medical center has treated its first COVID-19 patient with a new “passive vaccine” that the hospital developed in conjunction with Israeli biopharmaceutical firm Kamada.
Many other Israeli start-ups have developed technology that aids in the coronavirus fight, such as a protective mask developed by Sonovia, which is expected to neutralize up to 99% of the coronavirus. Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.