Person using computer
(Photo : Reuters)

As the coronavirus disease spreads around the globe infecting about 859,395 people with 42,328 recorded deaths, possible magical cures for the viral disease flooded the internet. Together with this is the "at-home" testing kits to confirm COVID-19 infection.

Lines of people are increasing in hospitals hoping to be treated by nurses and doctors who are already overwhelmed by the growing cases.  As a possible solution, companies announced to manufacture test kits that can be directly used by consumers in their homes.

These kits will allow the consumers to collect their sample either by swabbing the mouth and nose or putting saliva in a cup. Then these will be sent back to companies for evaluation. These kits will prevent them from violating the quarantine program enforced by the government, thus lowering the chances of spread of infection.  Additionally, this kit only ranges from $135 to $181, making it affordable for most households.

Though the companies' intention is clean, eyebrows were still raised with regards to the validity of test results.  They may have competent people to verify the results but the consumers' way of obtaining the samples may be contaminated. Hence it may result in false negatives outcomes.

Not only that, but people might also resort to cheaper testing offered by fake companies online.

The Food and Drug Administration responded to these issues by stating that they are not allowing these companies reputable or not to produce these test at-home kits.

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 Aside from these kits, magical cures are being offered online that are advertised to either combat or treat the coronavirus disease. Though possible trial drugs were released by the World Health Organization, none of these online junks made up to their lists.

Claims about these miracle cures involve essential oils, marijuana, mineral solution, tinctures and even colloidal silver.

According to the FDA, ingesting these is not proven to ward off the viral disease but is rather proven to cause side effects that do more harm than good.

Jim Bakker, a televangelist allowing his guest on his show to promote the colloidal silver as COVID-19 treat receives its warning for allowing this hoax to spread.

After the WHO released the possible use of chloroquine, an antimalarial, to treat COVID-19, people now shift their attention to products containing this drug. As this cannot be bought without a prescription, some bought fish tank cleaner to obtain the promising drug. In fact, a man from Arizona died from ingesting this drug.

Chloroquine can be extracted from the bark of the Cinchona tree is currently undergoing clinical trials to determine its effectiveness in fighting against COVID-19.  These will involve further small trials before using in a large scale population.

This shows that drugs undergo lots of scrutiny to test its efficacy in fighting the viral disease. It is not an overnight process that the experts can immediately decide to use against COVID-19. Therefore, people online offering an immediate cure and supplements to drive away the disease are all fraud.

To address the issue, William Barr, the attorney general of the US Department of Justice announced that attorneys in the US must "prioritize the investigation and prosecution of Coronavirus-related fraud schemes".