Afia Ohemeng
At least 27 individuals have died from alcohol poisoning. News agencies say the individuals died while trying to prevent an infection of the Coronavirus.
The deaths happened in the Khuzestan and Alborz provinces of Iran.
Some of the citizens of Ahwaz had heard that drinking alcohol could help them fight the coronavirus, so they used it as a preventive measure,” – Ali Ehsanpour, spokesman of Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences.
One of the victims got blind and some others are said to be in critical condition.
Coronavirus panic
Rumors and unscientific treatments are spreading quickly on social media due to panic worldwide.
One social media cure/treatment was drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, the alcohol ban in Iran has forced citizens to purchase and consume industrial alcohol sold in the markets. This industrial grade alcohol is used for sanitizing purposes.
Confirmed cases in Iran
The reported official number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the affected province of Khuzestan was set at 73.
So far, at least 218 Iranians have been hospitalized from alcohol poisoning in the medical centers with affiliations with the Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences.
