Fact or fiction? Charlotte County busting COVID-19 myths, stopping rumors

What’s fact and what’s fiction?

Misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading online; anything from homemade cures to non-existent lockdowns.

We asked you, our viewers, for some of the things you’ve heard and brought them to Charlotte County’s dedicated myth-buster to get the truth!

As news of the coronavirus swirls, so do the rumors.

Cheryl Allen told us she’s heard some crazy ones: “Vitamin C is gonna fix this, people should drink bleach, it’s like, oh my gosh!”

She’s not alone. We asked on Facebook what crazy rumors you’ve heard.

Some are saying garlic will keep the virus away.

Robert Hawkes, FGCU director of the university’s physician assistant program, says “it may help with social distancing because people don’t want to get too close to you, but garlic does not cure coronavirus.”

Neither does bleach.

“That would be really bad,” Hawkes said. “So, chlorine or like a bleach-type product can actually burn your skin and there’s a lot of complications.”

Hawkes says there are no concerns when it comes to tap water.

“With all the public water supplies, they do chlorinate the water, they do clean it, they filter it. I would say the risk of coronavirus being in the public water system would be extremely, extremely low,” he said.

Charlotte County says they’ve received a number of inquiries about rumors surrounding the virus. They’ve dedicated a web page answering your questions.

You can check out that website for yourself by clicking here.