A post claiming that inhaling steam helps in containing the effect of the coronavirus is doing rounds. The post claims that inhaling steam helps in reaching the coronavirus hidden behind the paranasal sinus and at 70-degree centigrade, the virus gets killed. Also, the post suggests steam inhalation once a day as a cure for COVID-19. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Inhaling steam reaches the coronavirus hidden behind the paranasal sinus and kills it at 70°C.
Fact: WHO has clarified that steam inhalation does not prevent one from catching COVID-19. Also, they cautioned that extremely hot steam can be harmful to humans, as there is a risk of burn injury. UNICEF through a fact-check story debunked the claim that coronavirus dies within five minutes at 70°C. The PIB through a tweet stated that there is no scientific evidence to prove inhaling of hot water steam kills coronavirus. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
World Health Organization, Philippines through its Facebook post has clarified that steam inhalation does not prevent one from catching COVID-19. Also, they cautioned that extremely hot steam can be harmful, as there is a risk of burn injury.
According to WHO ‘Exposure to the sun or temperatures above 25°C does NOT prevent coronavirus disease (COVID-19). You can catch COVID-19 regardless of sunny or hot weather. High-temperature countries have reported COVID-19 cases.’
Steam inhalation does not feature in WHO’s list of advices for the public about the virus, nor in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) measures to protect against the virus.
In a bid to bust the myths around COVID-19, UNICEF has fact-checked the claim that ‘coronavirus dies within five minutes at 70°C’ and rated the information as incorrect. As per this fact-check story, when they contacted the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro (IJZ CG) seeking a clarification, the institute said, ‘As for the evidence of survival – evidence is only available from “in vitro” studies – that is, from experiments that analyzed the survival of the virus under ideal conditions. In ideal conditions, the virus can survive for several days, but its numbers decline dramatically in the environment after that time. We cannot suggest precise timeframes, but two weeks is certainly not even close to what has been proven in the lab.’
Also PIB through a tweet clarified that there is no scientific evidence to prove inhaling of hot water steam kills coronavirus.
To sum it up, there is no scientific evidence to conclude that at 70°C, coronavirus gets killed and steam inhalation prevents one from catching COVID-19.
