This message (see above image) has been shared severally on WhatsApp and, as can be seen below, on Twitter as well. It warns Africans to avoid wearing secondhand clothes; claiming that the clothes of victims who have been infected with the novel Coronavirus are being exported for sale to African countries.
You Kenyans have been WARNED. Leave those mutumbas alone. At least for now. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/bK2c55x7f4
— MJ (@ItsMJ254) March 9, 2020
Background
Misinformation has been spreading widely on the novel coronavirus now called COVID-19. This has seen many claims on ways the virus is spreading and ways of controlling it come up, some of them harmless but others dangerous. Experts have warned against falling for any information communicated via unofficial channels.
Verification
According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, COVID-19 can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person.
While they don’t talk about clothes from the victims being used by others, it is explained that one can catch the virus by touching objects or surfaces that have been in contact with it if they touch their eyes, nose or mouth, thus the common advice that people regularly wash their hands with soap and water and avoid touching their eyes, mouths and noses.
People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.
It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but studies suggest that coronaviruses may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions depending on the conditions e.g. temperature.
They, however, advocate for cleaning surfaces that may be infected with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others.
The WHO also explains that the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled and exposed to different conditions is also low.
The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, have been giving updates about the virus and no such information has been disseminated officially.
Wired spoke to Vineet Menachery, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, who said that people are unlikely to get Covid-19 from fabric because “if the surfaces absorb, it’s harder to transmit the virus.” Washing the fabrics with detergent and water will destroy the virus as well.
Verdict
The message warning Africans against acquiring used clothing to curb the spread of COVID-19 is FALSE.
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