Does cocaine help with coronavirus? WHO has the answer, but only if you speak one of these languages…

There are a lot of things that won’t help you beat the Covid-19 virus: hot baths, garlic, hand dryers… But WHO’s myth-busting page is noticeably missing one ineffective remedy (cocaine) in its English-language version.

The World Health Organization (WHO) produced useful tips regarding fact and fiction relevant to the rampaging disease (garlic, going for walks in cold weather, hand dryers, antibiotics, and children’s urine can’t save you from the virus, it said), but in a different way to different people.

As a UN body, the WHO has pages in the six official languages of the organization: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The tips, however, have some discrepancies, presumably reflecting differences in the prevailing misconceptions between people using the languages.

One particular piece of advice says cocaine is not a cure for the infection. It was even highlighted by the UN’s Russian-language Twitter posts. You won’t find any mention of the drug in the English and Chinese versions of the tips. But if you’re fluent in Arabic, French, or Spanish, you are covered.

It’s highly unlikely that drug cartels bribed WHO officials to protect a panic-induced bust in their American and British Commonwealth markets – but just in case there was some kind of conspiracy to keep you in the dark, now you know!

And – don’t forget to wash your hands and keep them away from your face!

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