Hoax circulates that ‘not a single vegetarian has contracted COVID-19 according to the WHO'
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 8, 2020 at 07:10
- Updated on September 2, 2020 at 19:34
- 1 min read
- By AFP India
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The claim was made in a text graphic published on Facebook here on March 14, 2020.
The Hindi text translates to English as: “Not a single vegetarian has contracted coronavirus in the entire world: WHO Report. Amazing Sanatana Dharma. Hail Hindutva.”
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The terms “Sanatana Dharma” and “Hindutva” both refer to aspects of Hinduism, which promotes a vegetarian diet.
Similar claims were also shared on Facebook here, here, here and here; and on Twitter here, here, here and here.
However, the claim is false.
“The WHO has not made such a statement,” Supriya Bezbaruah, the WHO’s India representative, told AFP via WhatsAPP on May 2, 2020.
Dr. R.V. Asokan, the secretary general of the Indian Medical Association, also refuted the claim about vegetarians being protected against COVID-19.
“There is absolutely no truth in this claim. There is no medical evidence that non-vegetarian food is in any way related to covid death susceptibility,” he told AFP by phone on May 5, 2020.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak first emerged in early 2020, health experts have stressed that people should maintain a healthy diet to avoid a weakened immune system due to poor nutrition.
The WHO states here and here that meat, if properly prepared, can be consumed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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