1. Lots of posts that recommend eating garlic to prevent infection are being shared on Facebook.

脸书的网友们分享了很多建议吃大蒜预防新冠病毒感染的帖子。

The WHO (World Health Organization) says that while it is "a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties", there's no evidence that eating garlic can protect people from the new coronavirus.

世界卫生组织称，尽管大蒜是一种“可能具有某些抗菌特性的健康食品”，但没有证据表明吃大蒜可以保护人们免受新冠病毒的感染。

In lots of cases, these kinds of remedies aren't harmful in themselves, as long as they aren't preventing you from following evidence-based medical advice. But they have the potential to be.

在很多情况下，只要不妨碍你遵循循证医学建议，这类疗法本身无害，但也有可能有害人体健康。

The South China Morning Post reported a story of a woman who had to receive hospital treatment for a severely¹ inflamed² throat after consuming 1.5kg of raw garlic.

据《南华早报》报道，一名女子在食用了1.5公斤生大蒜后，因喉咙严重发炎而入院治疗。

We know, in general, that eating fruit and vegetables and drinking water can be good for staying healthy. However, there is no evidence specific foods will help fight this particular virus.

我们知道，一般来说，吃果蔬和喝水有益健康。但没有证据表明某种食物可以帮助对抗新冠病毒。

2. YouTuber Jordan Sather, who has many thousands of followers³ across different platforms, has been claiming that a "miracle mineral supplement", called MMS, can "wipe out" coronavirus.

油管用户乔丹·萨瑟在不同的平台上都有成千上万的粉丝，他一直声称一种“神奇矿物质补品”（简称MMS）可以“消灭”冠状病毒。

It contains chlorine dioxide - a bleaching⁴ agent.

MMS含有二氧化氯，这是一种漂白剂。

Sather and others promoted the substance even before the coronavirus outbreak, and in January he tweeted that, "not only is chlorine dioxide (aka MMS) an effective cancer cell killer, it can wipe out coronavirus too".

早在新冠病毒暴发之前，萨瑟等人就开始推广这种矿物质补品了。今年1月，他在推特上写道：“二氧化氯（又名MMS）不仅可以有效杀灭癌细胞，还能消灭冠状病毒。”

Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about the dangers to health of drinking MMS. Health authorities in other countries have also issued alerts about it.

去年，美国食品和药物管理局警告了饮用MMS对健康的危害。其他国家的卫生机构也发出了警告。

The FDA says it "is not aware of any research showing that these products are safe or effective for treating any illness". It warns that drinking them can cause nausea⁵, vomiting⁶, diarrhoea and symptoms of severe dehyrdation.

美国食品和药物管理局表示“没有任何研究表明这些产品对治疗某些疾病是安全或有效的”。它警告说，饮用MMS会导致恶心、呕吐、腹泻和严重脱水症状。

3. There have been many reports of shortages of hand sanitiser gel, as washing your hands is one key way to prevent spread of the virus.

由于洗手是防止病毒传播的关键途径之一，所以洗手液短缺的报道很多。

But these recipes were for a disinfectant better suited for cleaning surfaces and, as scientists pointed⁷ out, not suitable for use on skin.

但这些自制洗手液实际上是一种更适合清洁物体表面的消毒剂，正如科学家指出的那样，不适合清洁皮肤。

Alcohol-based hand gels usually also contain emollients⁸, which make them gentler on skin, on top of their 60-70% alcohol content.

含酒精的洗手液通常还含有润肤霜，即使酒精含量高达60-70%，用在皮肤上也较为温和。

Professor Sally Bloomfield, at the London School of Hygiene⁹ and Tropical Medicine, says she does not believe you could make an effective product for sanitising hands at home - even vodka only contains 40% alcohol.

伦敦卫生和热带医学学院的莎莉·布卢姆菲尔德教授说，她不相信人们可以在家里制造出一种有效的洗手产品——伏特加的酒精含量也只有40%。

For cleaning surfaces, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says most common household disinfectants should be effective.

对于清洁表面而言，美国疾病控制和预防中心表示，大多数常见的家用消毒剂都有效。

4. The use of colloidal¹⁰ silver was promoted on US televangelist Jim Bakker's show. Colloidal silver is tiny particles of the metal suspended in liquid. A guest on the show claimed the solution kills some strains of coronavirus within 12 hours (while admitting it hadn't yet been tested on Covid-19).

美国电视布道家吉姆·巴克在节目中推广了胶体银的使用。胶体银是悬浮在液体中的金属银微粒。一位嘉宾在节目中称，这种溶液可以在12小时内杀死一些冠状病毒（同时承认它还没有在新冠病毒上测试过）。

The idea that it could be an effective treatment for coronavirus has been widely shared on Facebook, particularly by "medical freedom" groups which are deeply suspicious of mainstream¹¹ medical advice.

胶体银可以有效治疗冠状病毒的说法在脸书上被广泛分享，尤其是那些对主流医疗建议持怀疑态度的“医疗自由”群体。

Proponents¹² of colloidal silver claim it can treat all kinds of health conditions, act as an antiseptic, and state it helps the immune system. But there's clear advice from the US health authorities that there's no evidence this type of silver is effective for any health condition. More importantly, it could cause serious side effects including kidney damage, seizures¹³ and argyria - a condition that makes your skin turn blue.

胶体银的支持者声称，它可以治疗各种病症，起到抗菌的作用，并声称它有助于免疫系统。但美国卫生机构明确表示，没有证据表明这种银有治病功效。更重要的是，它可能会导致严重的副作用，包括肾脏损伤、癫痫和银质沉着病（使皮肤变蓝）。

They say that, unlike iron or zinc¹⁴, silver is not a metal that has any function in the human body.

美国卫生机构表示，与铁或锌不同，银对人体没有任何用处。

5. One post, copied and pasted by multiple Facebook accounts, quotes a "Japanese doctor" who recommends drinking water every 15 minutes to flush out any virus that might have entered the mouth. A version in Arabic has been shared more than 250,000 times.

一位“日本医生”建议人们每15分钟喝一次水，以清除任何可能进入口腔的病毒。很多脸书用户复制粘贴了这个帖子，帖子的阿拉伯语版本已经被分享了超过25万次。

Professor Bloomfield says there is absolutely no evidence this will help.

布卢姆菲尔德教授说，绝对没有证据表明这会有帮助。

Airborne viruses enter the body via the respiratory tract¹⁵ when you breathe in. Some of them might go into your mouth, but even constantly drinking water isn't going to prevent you from catching¹⁶ the virus.

你吸气时，空气传播的病毒通过呼吸道进入体内。有些可能会进入你的口腔，但即使不断地喝水也不能阻止你感染病毒。

Nonetheless, drinking water and staying hydrated is generally good medical advice.

尽管如此，一般来说，喝水和补水是很好的医疗建议。

6. There are lots of variations of the advice suggesting heat kills the virus, from recommending drinking hot water to taking hot baths, or using hairdryers.

有很多说法都声称病毒会被高温杀死，比如喝热水、洗热水澡，或使用吹风机。

One post, copied and pasted by dozens of social media users in different countries - and falsely attributed to Unicef - claims that drinking hot water and exposure to the sun will kill the virus, and says ice cream is to be avoided.

来自不同国家的数十名社交媒体用户复制并粘贴了一篇帖子，并错误地称其援引自联合国儿童基金会。该帖子称，喝热水和晒太阳可以杀死病毒，并且不要吃冰淇淋。

Charlotte Gornitzka, who works for Unicef on coronavirus misinformation, says: "A recent erroneous online message...purporting¹⁷ to be a Unicef communication appears to indicate that avoiding ice cream and other cold foods can help prevent the onset¹⁸ of the disease. This is, of course, wholly untrue."

在联合国儿童基金会负责纠正新冠病毒错误信息的夏洛特·戈尔尼茨卡说：“最近网上有条错误信息……据称是来自联合国儿童基金会的消息，声称不吃冰淇淋和其他冷的食物有助于预防感染新冠病毒。当然，这肯定不是真的。”

We know the flu virus doesn't survive well outside the body during the summer, but we don't yet know how heat impacts the new coronavirus.

我们知道流感病毒在夏天无法在体外存活很久，但是我们还不知道高温对新冠病毒有何影响。

Trying to heat your body or expose yourself to the sun - presumably to make it inhospitable to the virus - is completely ineffective, according to Prof Bloomfield. Once the virus is in your body, there's no way of killing¹⁹ it - your body just has to fight it off.

布卢姆菲尔德教授表示，试图使身体升温或晒太阳——可能是为了让病毒不易在人体存活——是完全无效的。一旦病毒进入人体，就没有办法杀死它了——你的身体只能自己抗击病毒。

Outside the body, "to actively²⁰ kill the virus you need temperatures of around 60 degrees", says Professor Bloomfield - far hotter than any bath or sauna.

布卢姆菲尔德教授说，在体外，“要想有效地杀死病毒，你需要60度左右的温度”——比任何沐浴或桑拿温度都要高得多。

Washing bed linen²¹ or towels at 60 degrees is a good idea, as this can kill any viruses in the fabric²². But it's not a good option for washing your skin.

用60度的水温清洗床单或毛巾是个好主意，因为这可以杀死织物中的任何病毒。但清洁皮肤不宜这样做。

And having a hot bath or drinking hot liquids won't change your actual body temperature, which remains²³ stable unless you are already ill.

洗个热水澡或喝点热饮也不会改变你的实际体温，除非你已经生病了，否则体温会保持稳定。