PM’s suggestion of salt water gargle as a Covid-19 remedy is misleading

Addressing the 5th Indradaha Tourism Festival at Dahachok in the Kathmandu valley on February 21, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli repeated an already debunked claim about a home remedy for Covid-19 .

Oli repeated the claim, which is among several claims that were flagged as false by the World Health Organisation’s Myth Busters series in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. About a year ago, many international fact-checkers had investigated and debunked a common claim that gargling with saline water or rinsing the nose with the solution could prevent one from the coronavirus infection. While repeating the claim on February 21, the prime minister said some people had earlier made fun of him when he had suggested sal twater gargle as a remedy.