List of coronavirus “facts” from internal email at St. George’s Hospital? Fact Check

A message of alleged facts about preventing the coronavirus is spreading across social meda. Most variants claim that is attributed to St. George’s Hospital in London.

Some variants of the message claim it is form an internal email for staff at St. George’s hospital, while others claim it came from the Princess of Wales hospital or was sent to all of NHS London. Other variants simply state it is “advice given to hospital staff”.

MOSTLY FALSE

The message is largely just a rehash of previous messages that were falsely attributed to other hospitals. The message contains much of the same information as an earlier variant that was attributed to Stanford Hospital.

An example of the message can be seen below.

Internal email for staff in St George’s Hospital Virus Detection: The simplest way to distinguish Coronavirus from a Common Cold is that the COVID-19 infection does not cause a cold nose or cough with cold, but it does create a dry and rough cough.
The virus is typically first installed in the throat causing inflammation and a feeling of dryness. This symptom can last between 3 and 4 days.
The virus typically then travels through the moisture present in the airways, goes down to the trachea and installs in the lungs, causing pneumonia that lasts about 5 or 6 days.
Pneumonia manifests with a high fever and difficulty breathing. The Common Cold is not accompanied, but there may be a choking sensation. In this case, the doctor should be called immediately.
Experts suggest doing this simple verification every morning: Breathe in deeply and hold your breath for 10 seconds. If this can be done without coughing, without difficulty, this shows that there is no fibrosis in the lungs, indicating the absence of infection. It is recommended to do this control every morning to help detect infection.
Prevention:
The virus hates heat and dies if it is exposed to temperatures greater than 80°F (27°C). Therefore hot drinks such as infusions, broths or simply hot water should be consumed abundantly during the day. These hot liquids kill the virus and are easy to ingest.
Avoid drinking ice water or drinks with ice cubes.
Ensure that your mouth and throat are always wet, never DRY. You should drink a sip of water at least every 15 minutes. WHY? Even when the virus enters water or other liquids through the mouth, it will get flushed through the oesophagus directly into the stomach where gastric acids destroy the virus. If there is not enough water, the virus can pass into the trachea and from there to the lungs, where it is very dangerous.
For those who can, sunbathe. The Sun’s UV rays kill the virus and the vitamin D is good for you.
The Coronavirus has a large size (diameter of 400-500 nanometers) so face masks can stop it, no special face masks are needed in daily life.
If an infected person sneezes near us, stay 10 feet (3.3 meters) away to allow the virus fall to the ground and prevent it from falling on you.
When the virus is on hard surfaces, it survives about 12 hours, therefore when hard surfaces such as doors, appliances, railings, etc. are touched, hands should be washed thoroughly and/or disinfected with alcoholic gel
The virus can live nested in clothes and tissues between 6 and 12 hours. Common detergents can kill it. Things that cannot be washed should be exposed to the Sun and the virus will die.
The transmission of the virus usually occurs by direct infection, touching fabrics, tissues or materials on which the virus is present. Washing your hands is essential.
The virus survives on our hands for only about 10 minutes. In that time many things can happen, rubbing the eyes, touching the nose or lips. This allows the virus to enter your throat. Therefore, for your good and the good of all, wash your hands very often and disinfect them.
You can gargle with disinfectant solutions (i.e. Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide) that eliminate or minimize the amount of virus that can enter the throat. Doing so removes the virus before it goes down to the trachea and then to the lungs.
Disinfect things touched often: cellphone, keyboard, mouse, car steering wheel, door handles, etc
This has been sent to internal staff at St. George’s hospital it explains cv really well!!

We have debunked many of the claims in the message before, so below is a brief analysis of the above message with relevant links.

Claim 1: COVID-19 does not cause a cold.

MISLEADING: While a cold or runny nose it not a primary symptom of coronavirus, the symptoms can vary greatly with specific individuals. The CDC has listed a runny nose as a symptom, albeit one more likely found in children.

Claim 2: Hold breath for 10 seconds to diagnose coronavirus?

FALSE: This is false. We have debunked this claim previously here.

Claim 3: You should drink hot drinks

FALSE: There is no evidence that hot drinks will prevent the coronavirus. The coronavirus can enter a body through the nose, eyes and infect the chest and lungs. Hot liquids will have no effect on these areas whatsoever, and additionally there is no evidence that hot liquids will kill the disease even it is present in the mouth or throat.

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Claim 4: Sip water every 15 minutes

Again, there is no evidence to support this claim. We have debunked this claim already here.

Claim 5: Sunbathe

There is no evidence that sunbathing prevents the coronavirus. This is entirely baseless. No leading entity is recommending such a technique.

Claim 6: Stay away from sneezes

This is common sense advice you should follow.

Claim 7: Gargling

There is no evidence that gargling will prevent coronavirus.

The rest of the list of coronavirus facts – especially concerning transmission – are largely true. However, this message contains mostly false or unproven statements, and is just a rehash of previous incarnations of the same claims. We don’t recommend circulating it.