A top German virologist has claimed drinking whisky can protect against COVID-19 infection.
Dr Juergen Rissland, who is the head doctor at the Institute for Virology at Saarland University Hospital in Germany appeared on a programme broadcast on Sudwestrundfunk (SWR) in the south of the country.
He was speaking on the show called “Health Issues” together with presenter Dennis Wilms who asked the doctor whether regular drinking could have a preventive effect.
The presenter was passing on questions from viewers, and one wanted to know if was it a good idea to drink alcohol to kill any viruses that they might have swallowed.
The expert replied: “Yes, of course that’s true. And the higher the percentage of alcohol, the better it is. For example, if you are a whisky lover, then that certainly isn’t a bad idea.”
He added: “But of course you need to bear in mind that you can’t do that every 15 minutes, that is something else to consider.”
The presenter then interrupted the doctor saying: “Are we really advising our viewers to drink high-proof alcohol?”
The medic, however, stood by his position saying: “I would say it can’t do any harm although we need to remember that it’s not a guaranteed cure for the problem.”
Later he explained that he wanted to make it clear that the virus was susceptible to alcohol because it had a fatty coating. This would be destroyed by the alcohol, he said, thus rendering the virus harmless.
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