Scammers taking advantage of fears surrounding spread of COVID-19
Posted March 7, 2020 8:29 am.
Last Updated March 7, 2020 8:30 am.
EDMONTON (NEWS 1130) — With fears rising around the new coronavirus, some people are making bold claims as to how to protect yourself.
Timothy Caulfield, with the University of Alberta, has seen some strange suggestions like chiropractors who say receiving spinal manipulation adjustments will help.
Some homeopaths are also claiming their treatments will work against the virus.
But Caulfield says, “None of that will help.”
Some people are also claiming supplements, and IV vitamin therapy can be beneficial but Caulfield emphasizes the claims are entirely false.
And overall, he finds the fake remedies extremely frustrating.
“They’re taking the fear that’s out there, the uncertainty that is out there in order to market products for profit,” Caulfield says.
Caulfield adds these holistic practices advertised are linked to a growing mistrust around Western medicine that is also fueled by the anti-Vax movement.
“Coronavirus is kind of accelerated that misinformation. And this community is leveraging the coronavirus in order to try to legitimize the practices that they do, but also to sell their products and their ideas.”
If you do have questions and want to learn more, instead, stay tuned to the experts from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization.
