Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, people have been washing their hands, staying six feet apart, and wearing masks. Because there is no vaccine yet, the chances of getting the highly contagious virus are high, and some people are looking for unconventional ways to protect themselves from the virus. 

Take for example Daniel Najac, a high school senior from Nova High School.  He and his family heard a rumor that cutting would eliminate the coronavirus if left at multiple points in your house.

 “We would cut an onion and leave it somewhere in the middle of the house as a way to stop the virus from spreading,” said Najac.

They thought that this would act as a deterrent for the virus, stopping the spread from occurring. This is wrong. Nowhere on the CDC website does it mention that onions have anything in them that would combat the virus, especially through the air alone. 

What is even crazier is it’s not only the Najac Family that was cutting the onion, but multiple families in their neighborhood were also leaving out cut onions all over the house. Everyone was walking around with watery eyes. 

Although leaving an onion on your counter doesn’t prevent the virus, it is also harmless. The problem is some of these alternative methods can be deadly. Take for example, a couple in Arizona who ingested chloroquine, which was promoted by President Trump, in the form of an aquarium additive. Thirty minutes after taking the additive, the couple was rushed to the hospital, and the man died of cardiac arrest.

There are other examples of unproven or dangerous methods to treat the virus. Some people believed that by drinking bleach, it would help prevent them from contracting the virus. Bleach can be used for cleaning surfaces that are touched a lot to help prevent the spread of the virus but not for drinking purposes.

The web is rife with people trying to sell dubious treatments for COVID-19. Sherrill Sellman is a naturopathic practitioner who has a website where she sells silver solutions. On it she offers a silver solution for $40 that she claims will kill COVID-19 within 12 hours. She promotes this on the Jim Bakker show. She claims that because it has been tested on other forms of the coronavirus, it will work on COVID-19, although there has been no proof that it actually works. It is not harmful to a person though, so if someone is willing to try it, they can do so.

At one point, President Trump was promoting the use of lights and disinfectants, stating in a press conference that if UV light was shined into the human body it may be able to kill the virus completely. However, many scientists have already proven years before that the improper use of powerful light rays can cause bodily harm. Disinfectants also prove to be harmful as, even though they can kill microbes, they can also kill humans. After receiving a lot of  backlash, he later stated  he was being sarcastic..

Although Najac was fine with leaving a cut onion on the counter, he says he wouldn’t try anything that is known to be harmful to the human body.

Now quote him here: 

“It’s ridiculous, don’t drink bleach.” he said. “Their are other ways to stop the virus” For information on how to properly prevent the spread of COVID-19 visit the CDC website at (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html)