Did new Chinese research prove that you can prevent COVID-19 infections by drinking fermented tea?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Fermented Tea Can Prevent COVID-19!
This message has gone viral on WhatsApp and social media platforms, claiming that new Chinese research has proven that you can prevent COVID-19 infections by drinking fermented tea!
Chiayi Chang Gung Hospital, and China Medical University published: The so-called principle that drinking tea can prevent coronavirus is as follows:
Scientists put the virus into the tea water and let it stand for 1 minute~ They found that 90% of the virus in the tea water was killed. It can kill 100% if left for 3 minutes. Especially tea species with a high degree of fermentation (such as black tea/Taiwan oolong tea/Pu-erh cooked tea, etc.) have a good bactericidal effect~because the virus survives on the oral and nasal mucosa when it is just infected.
Drinking tea at this time can destroy the virus cell wall and flush the virus into gastric juice to kill the virus. There are tea products with high thearubigin content at home that can be drunk at any time after brewing~ As long as the tea leaves are less irritating, they can be drunk all day without causing headache/stomach pain or scraping of the stomach/tea that does not affect sleep can effectively prevent the epidemic.
Please share this information~ Drink more tea to help yourself and use kind knowledge to help others.
This is yet another example of COVID-19 fake news circulating on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : No Evidence Of Such Research
First, let’s start with the fact that there is no evidence that the Chiayi Chang Gung Hospital, and the China Medical University – both from Taiwan, ever published joint research proving that drinking fermented tea can prevent COVID-19 infections.
Back in March 2020 (before COVID-19 vaccines and treatments were developed) researchers at the Chiayi Chang Gung Hospital’s Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine used a computer program to identify potential antiviral components in traditional plants.
They identified theaflavin – a polyphenolic compound found in black tea leaves, as a potential inhibitor of protease activity in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thearubigin mentioned in the viral message is an oxidation product of theaflavin.
The head of that research team, Wu Ching-yuan (吳清源), claimed that its antiviral effect was similar to remdesivir. But since its publication in March 2020, there has been no further development on using theaflavin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
Even remdesivir was found to be ineffective against COVID-19, with the WHO recommending against its use in November 2020.
In any case, the researchers did not even claim that drinking tea – whether black or fermented, can prevent COVID-19 infections.
Fact #2 : SARS-CoV-2 Is A Respiratory Virus
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a respiratory virus, which means it primarily infects you through your respiratory system, and to a lesser extent – through your eyes.
Therefore, drinking hot water and drinks, even coffee or tea, has absolutely NO EFFECT on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
This study identifies possible associations between COVID, the vaccine and the development of SJS/TEN.
We propose three theories for this seven-fold increase in case number; a virus induced, a vaccine induced and a threshold lowering pathway.
We advise future research investigates the impact viruses such as SARS-COV-2 have on immune mediated diseases such as SJS/TEN.
The viral message claims that highly-fermented tea like black tea, Taiwan oolong tea, Pu-erh kills the COVID-19 coronavirus, because they have “good bactericidal activity“.
This is like pointing out that water has good firefighting activity while recommending it for cleaning an oil spill… The creator of this fake news does not seem to understand that SARS-CoV-2 is a virus, not bacteria.
The viral message also wrongly claims that the COVID-19 coronavirus has cell walls. As a virus, SARS-CoV-2 does not have any cell wall. It only has a protective protein coat called a capsid.
Fact #4 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Sensitive To Temperature
It is no surprise that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is sensitive to temperature. This has been confirmed through numerous research early in the pandemic. You don’t even need boiling hot water or tea to kill it!
At normal room temperatures, 90% of the virus will be automatically destroyed / deactivated after 20-50 hours. But if you raise the temperature to just 54.5°C, the time is cut down to less than 1 hour!
Based on those research, conservatively, the COVID-19 coronavirus can be killed by simply heating contaminated objects for:
3 minutes at temperature above 75°C (160°F).
5 minutes for temperatures above 65°C (149°F).
20 minutes for temperatures above 60°C (140°F).
Needless to say, at 100°C, the virus is instantly destroyed. There is no need to leave the virus in boiling hot water / tea for 3 minutes to kill it, as the viral message claims.
Fact #5 : This Is Just COVID-19 Fake News
This is just another example of COVID-19 fake news circulating on WhatsApp and social media. Here are other recent examples:
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did the United States refuse to let WHO investigate Fort Detrick for evidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus?!
Take a look at this viral post from China, and find out what the FACTS really are!
Claim : US Refused WHO Investigation Of Fort Detrick For COVID-19 Evidence!
This post from China is being repeatedly shared by in WhatsApp groups, as evidence that the United States is trying to hide that they created the COVID-19 virus.
It’s a long read, so if you just want the facts, skip to the next section.
Till today, USA has refused to let WHO International team to investigate Fort Detrick, the origin of the Trumpp virus…your say 🥶
Shocking! Today the poisoning killer was finally found, and it really was the United States!
The truth is creepy, the new crown virus is man-made and originated from the [骷髅] P3 virus laboratory in North Carolina, USA!
[庆祝] Greg Roubini, a well-known American intelligence expert, officially revealed the secrets of this day in an interview with the First News Network television channel. According to Greg, the new crown virus was genetically engineered as a [炸弹] biological weapon. It originated from the[炸弹] BSL-3 laboratory in North Carolina and was developed by Professor [炸弹] Ralph Barrick.
He also stated that the [庆祝] virus was spread from North Carolina [庆祝] to China, Italy and the entire United States by the [骷髅] “dark government”. Greg once tweeted and questioned Trump: Why didn’t you tell the American people that the virus was made by the United States? [庆祝] Why not make it clear that the new coronavirus itself is a biological weapon?
Coincidentally, [庆祝] Professor Luc Montagnier, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of HIV, recently revealed to French reporters that the new coronavirus is not naturally occurring, but is carefully developed by biomolecular scientists.
Montagnier also said: Obviously, professionals have added the HIV sequence to this virus from bats.
This is undoubtedly the biggest and worst poisoning case ever!
[庆祝] Since the outbreak of the epidemic, rumors about “the new crown virus is a synthetic biological weapon” have been heated up, and scientists from various countries have also been working hard to trace the source of the virus.
As early as February, Indian scientists [庆祝] discovered the HIV virus insert in the new coronavirus, which proved that the virus was artificially designed and synthesized. In mid-March, scientists discovered that the new crown virus extracted from a patient in Washington state had an evolutionary cycle of more than half a year [庆祝].
With the deepening of research, many countries in the world have turned their skepticism toward the United States. Japan, Italy, Australia and other countries all have early confirmed cases originating [庆祝] from the United States.
Subsequently, [庆祝] Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted that many of the [庆祝] deaths of the “pandemic” that broke out in the United States in September 2019 were caused by the new crown virus.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also questioned the United States on Twitter.
After the arduous efforts of a team of reporters in Virginia, USA, it was [庆祝]finally traced back to patient zero.
This patient No. 0 is indeed an [悠闲] American soldier who participated in the Wuhan Military Games in October last year. [悠闲] Her name is Maatje Benassi.
This American female officer has a very special background. She has a great connection with the [炸弹] P4 Biochemical Laboratory in Fort Detrick of the United States. Many people in her family have been diagnosed.
[庆祝] One of them was the first confirmed case in the Netherlands. She had been there before the diagnosis. The Lombardy region of Italy led to a major outbreak in the region.
At this point, the chain of evidence that the [庆祝] United States is the birthplace of the new coronavirus is complete and interlocking.
The five special soldiers picked up by the special plane after the Wuhan Military Games finally had a substantial connection with the closed biochemical laboratory in the United States.
According to the logic of Trump and others, we can naturally call the new crown virus the [庆祝] North Carolina virus, or the [庆祝] American virus.
Just when all the evidence points to the United States, the top US officials openly admitted that the coronavirus is not a plague, but a [炸弹] weapon level. The level of shamelessness shocked the world, and this has further increased the [弱] suspicion of poisoning the United States.
The facts of the case have now come to light, but Trump and others are still desperately dumping the pot. The new crown virus has caused immense damage and losses to countries all over the world.
The pot is too big to be shaken out. There is another doubt that needs to be explained: what is the origin of Ralph Barrick, who is responsible for the development of the North Carolina virus, mentioned by Greg in the revelation?
[炸弹] Barrick is from the University of North Carolina. He is the chief virologist who modified the new sars coronavirus by gene editing in 2015 and is also the leader in the development of the virus.
What is even more surprising is that he is also the person in charge of the clinical development of the [炸弹] magic drug “Radixivir”.
Is this the kind of legend that the poisoner will prepare the antidote in advance?
In the subsequent clinical trials of Radcivir, because experts questioned its effectiveness and safety, it quickly fell to the altar. With the spread of the virus, the United States[弱] has become the “epicenter” of the epidemic.
In the early stage of the epidemic, US President Trump did not take it into consideration at all, but regarded it as a more serious influenza. Until the death [打脸]of his friend, New York real estate tycoon Stanley Chela, who was infected with the new crown, it has attracted his attention. [打脸]
But it’s too late! …
The sky does not give birth to China, and the ages are like a long night. Now that the murderers of drug production and poisoning have been exposed, what is waiting for them? We will wait and see! [庆祝][庆祝][庆祝]美生物战病毒之起源之证据！
** Every affected nation should sue USA at least US$5tril for mass murder, economic damage, suffering & other damages… 🤔
And now, let’s go through and fact check the super-long article, to show you why this is just more fake news and yet another piece of Chinese propaganda.
Claim #1 : USA refused to let WHO investigate Fort Detrick Verdict : FALSE
The WHO team that looked into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus never requested to investigate Fort Detrick.
That’s simply because Fort Detrick, which is located in the city of Frederick in the US state of Maryland, was not the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.
The first COVID-19 outbreak happened in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China.
Claim #2 : Fort Detrick Is Source Of SARS-CoV-2 Verdict : FALSE
China’s repeated suggestions that there may have been a leak at the Fort Detrick laboratory is illogical.
If SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, the city of Frederick in Maryland would have been the epicentre of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.
That is why the WHO international team not only asked to investigate the Huanan Seafood Market, they also asked to investigate the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Now, this does not mean that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It merely means the Chinese claim about Fort Detrick is nonsensical.
Claim #3 : Greg Rubini is an American intelligence expert Verdict : FALSE
Greg Rubini was exposed by Buzzfeed as the alias of a 61 year-old Italian man who worked in marketing and music promotions.
He is definitely NOT American. Neither was he an intelligence expert of any kind.
This false claim was extensively debunked long ago, so it is peculiar why the Chinese keep repeating it.
Claim #4 : SARS-CoV-2 originated in the BSL-3 laboratory in North Carolina Verdict : FALSE
Wait, didn’t this piece of Chinese propaganda claim that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created in Fort Detrick?
Fort Detrick is in the state of Maryland; while the University of North Carolina (UNC) is in the state of North Carolina.
Which is it? The virus cannot be created in two separate places.
If it was created in the BSL-3 laboratory at UNC, then why ask for Fort Detrick to be investigated?
The lack of logic in Chinese propaganda is astounding…
UNC Burnett-Womack BSL-3 laboratory
Claim #4 : Luc Montagnier revealed that virus has HIV sequence Verdict : FALSE
This claim was made in April 2020, when Luc Montagnier actually hypothesised that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came “out of a laboratory in Wuhan“.
Not surprisingly, this piece of Chinese propaganda adroitly skipped past that inconvenient claim…
At that time, Montagnier cited an Indian pre-published study as evidence that the coronavirus was engineered. He did not “reveal” that the virus has HIV genetic sequences.
That Indian paper was withdrawn
Claim #5 : Indian scientists discovered the HIV virus insert in SARS-CoV-2 Verdict : FALSE
The Indian paper that Luc Montagnier cited was posted on BioRxiv, not in February as claimed, but in January 2020.
In their paper, that group of Indian scientists claimed that there were “uncanny similarity of unique inserts” between SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1, suggesting that the coronavirus was engineered.
That pre-published study was widely criticised by the scientific community, as the similarities it pointed out were very common amongst similar viruses.
The authors quickly withdrew their paper, which was not peer-reviewed, after it was criticised for jumping to conclusions. Subsequent research has shown that their conclusions had no merit.
Claim #6 : COVID-19 originated in the United States Verdict : FALSE
Analysis of blood samples of donors in various countries, including the United States, revealed that people were infected with COVID-19 before China reported it to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
That led China to push the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in the United States.
However, there are two problems with that narrative – SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious, and scientists can analyse its genomic changes over time.
SARS-CoV-2 Is Highly Contagious
SARS-CoV-2 is so contagious that an outbreak is very hard to contain. Look at the severe lockdown measures the Chinese undertook in Wuhan.
There were no such lockdowns in the US, so if SARS-CoV-2 originated in the US, it would have resulted in a massive outbreak.
Obviously, that did not happen, ergo COVID-19 could not possibly have originated in the United States.
Genomic Analysis
Viruses mutate and create new variants over time. A novel virus like SARS-CoV-2 would start with a single ancestral variant and evolve into multiple variants as it spreads globally and mutate over time.
By analysing the genomic changes of these variants, scientists have pretty much concluded that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.
The blood sample studies only serve to reinforce the growing opinion that China was either unaware of COVID-19 for many weeks, or covered up the fact that they had a new viral epidemic on their hands.
Claim #7 : Robert Redfield said many deaths in September 2019 were from COVID-19 Verdict : FALSE
Chinese media, like CGTN and New China TV, have actively pushed this false narrative after CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, said that some deaths that were initially diagnosed as influenza were later detected as COVID-19.
This happened on 11 March 2020, during the US House Oversight Committee discussion :
Rep. Harley Rouda asked Dr. Redfield if it’s possible that some flu patients may have been misdiagnosed, and actually had COVID-19.
Dr. Redfield replied, “Some cases have actually been diagnosed that way in the United States today“.
At no point did he say that that those deaths were detected in September 2019.
Claim #8 : US soldier Maatje Benassi spread COVID-19 to Wuhan Verdict : FALSE
Chinese media and netizens have assiduously claimed that COVID-19 was introduced to Wuhan by US soldiers participating in the 2019 Military World Games.
They initially used a video of a Belgian man to push this fake narrative, but later shifted to targeting one specific US soldier – Maatje Benassi.
Maatje Benassi was just one of the hundreds of US soldiers participating in the 2019 Military World Games – essentially the military version of Olympics.
A competitive cyclist, she suffered an accident in the final lap of a 50 mile race, suffering a fractured rib and a concussion.
Despite not being diagnosed with COVID-19, she was accused of being Patient Zero, who spread COVID-19 to Wuhan.
Both Chinese propaganda outlet, Global Times, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, participated in this false narrative.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Maatje Benassi of the U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team leads the group during the women’s road race event of the 2019 CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, China Oct. 20, 2019. (DoD/EJ Hersom)
Claim #9 : Maatje Benassi works at Fort Detrick Verdict : FALSE
Maatje Benassi does not work at Fort Detrick.
She was an Army reservist assigned to the 312th Observer-Controller Trainer unit at Fort Meade – about 91 km away from Fort Detrick.
Claim #10 : Ralph Baric developed the SARS-CoV-2 virus Verdict : FALSE
There is no evidence that Ralph Baric, or any other person, developed the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Claim #11 : Remdesivir was developed for COVID-19 before it existed Verdict : FALSE
Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, that works by inhibiting viral RNA polymerase, which exists in most RNA viruses. That means it could work against a broad range of viruses.
It was initially developed to treat hepatitis C and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 2009, but failed to work against them.
It was then studied as a potential treatment for Ebola and Marburg virus infections, before it was discovered to work in vitro (in the lab) against multiple filoviruses, pneumoviruses, paramyxoviruses and coronaviruses.
Therefore, the claim that Remdesivir was created to treat COVID-19 before it existed, is false.
Claim #12 : Remdesivir is an antidote for COVID-19 Verdict : FALSE
The US FDA approved remdensivir for use in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation on 22 October 2020, after three promising trials.
However, in November 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended AGAINST the use of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients, after the Solidarity trial determined that it had “little to no effect on hospitalised COVID-19“.
Therefore, the claim that Remdesivir is an antidote or cure for COVID-19 is also false.
Why Would China Push Fake Fort Detrick Claim?
With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.
Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..
China has also been blamed for not handling the initial COVID-19 epidemic better, and unfairly – for being the origin of this new virus.
Hence, they have been trying their best to deflect blame by casting aspersions unto others, using aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy tactics, propaganda outlets like Global Times and CTGN, and their 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
This fake news appears to be part of the disinformation campaign conducted by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
Please help us fight such malicious fake news – SHARE this fact check far and wide!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
