A blow dryer will not kill the coronavirus
FILE -A cordless hairdryer that uses infrared radiant heat by Volo is demonstrated during a press event for CES 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on January 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - CLAIM: Using a blow dryer to shoot hot air into your sinuses will kill the new coronavirus.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Medical professionals say the practice is dangerous and it will not kill the new coronavirus.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing clips from a 6-minute video that suggests that heat kills the coronavirus and applying heat to your nose will help eliminate it.
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The false claim is one of many that have surfaced around the new virus which doctors are actively trying to debunk.
“False! Please don’t. Our nose carries bacteria, as part of normal flora.Those bacteria may get confused,” Faheem Younus, who specializes in infectious diseases at the University of Maryland, tweeted Tuesday to knock down the false claim.
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The World Health Organization has said that hand dryers cannot kill the new coronavirus and that coronavirus can still be transmitted in hot and humid climates.
Dr. Jen Caudle, a family physician and associate professor at Rowan University in New Jersey, also confirmed that blowing hot air into a nose will not prevent or cure the new coronavirus.
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“Depending on how hot the blow dryer gets, I would be concerned with some adverse effects,” she said.
Doctors like Younus and Caudle are using their social media platforms to debunk myths around the virus that has infected more than 200,000 worldwide. Dr. Caudle has been uploading videos on her Facebook page to share accurate info and quell fears on the virus for her more than 70,000 followers.