With more than 3, 300 deaths and 100,000 confirmed cases worldwide, Coronavirus (COVID-19) originated in Wuhan, China where cases of unusual pneumonia were perceived. The terrifying novel virus prompted China to alert the World Health Organisation (WHO) on December 31.

According to WHO, the coronaviruses family cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). 

As part of the efforts to control the virus from spreading to Rwanda, on Friday, March 6, the government issued guidelines to the public.

The move was also followed by a temporary ban on all public gatherings, including concerts and other entertainment events.

With its fast transmission and deaths registered with no cure and vaccine yet, COVID-19 has earned a top spot among people’s conversations, including on social media hence inducing some myths too.

But don’t be fooled they’re just myths. The New Times looks at the 10 most popular myths about the novel coronavirus. 

1. Black people cannot catch COVID-19

Some Facebook posts claimed that a Cameroonian man living in China was cured of the novel coronavirus "because he has black skin”. 

Although a Cameroonian student was successfully treated for the illness, there is no scientific evidence to suggest black people have a better chance of fighting the virus.

Doctors explained that ethnicity and genetics have no influence on recovery from the virus, and black people don’t have more antibodies than white people.

2. Face masks protect against coronavirus

Face masks are not a great shield against the virus. They do not cover the eyes and cannot capture tiny particles such as aerosols. 

Moreover, these masks can’t prevent someone from touching their eyes, mouth or nose.

However, they may prove to be efficient if worn by an infected person to decrease the chances of infecting others by blocking droplets from coughing or sneezing which are the main route of transmission.

The masks are crucial for the health workers looking after the ill. Both family members and the infected person are urged to wear the masks.

3. You can protect yourself from COVID-19 by eating garlic, spraying alcohol, pepper sauce or other substances

According to WHO, there is no evidence that taking garlic, just like all the above-mentioned substances has protected people from the new coronavirus.

Furthermore, ingestion of some of the above-mentioned substances are dangerous.

4. You need to be with an infected person for 10 minutes in order to catch the virus

The longer someone is with an infected person, the more likely they are to catch the virus, but it is still possible to catch it in less than 10 minutes.

5. How effective are thermal scanners in detecting people infected with the new coronavirus?

According to WHO, thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever because of infection with the new coronavirus.

However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever. This is because it takes between two and 10 days before people who are infected become sick and develop a fever.

6. Children cannot catch COVID-19

All age groups can become infected. Most cases, so far, have been in adults, but children are not immune. In fact, preliminary evidence shows that children are just as likely to become infected, but their symptoms tend to be less severe.

7. No need to panic COVID-19 is just a flu

Coronavirus shouldn’t be taken lightly. Although it shares the symptoms with normal flu, its mortality rate, transmission and spreading rate sets alarm bells ringing. 

Each person infected with COVID-19 is likely to infect 2.2 more people while it’s about 1.3 for normal flu. These numbers are also associated with the mortality rates.

The data available so far indicate that the crude mortality ratio (the number of reported deaths divided by the reported cases) is between 3-4 per cent, the infection mortality rate (the number of reported deaths divided by the number of infections) will be lower. 

For seasonal influenza, mortality is usually well below 0.1 per cent. However, mortality is to a large extent determined by access to and quality of health care.

COVID-19 timeline since December 2019

8. The new coronavirus is man-made.

Despite the swathes of internet rumours, there is no evidence that this is the case. Some researchers believe that COVID-19 may have jumped from pangolins to humans. 

Others think that it might have passed from bats, which was the case for SARS. Although scientists are confident that the virus started in animals, there is no evidence that it came from an animal of any kind.

9. Receiving products from China will infect you 

From previous research into similar coronaviruses, including those that cause SARS and MERS and are similar to COVID-19, scientists believe that the virus cannot survive on letters or packages for an extended time.

Researchers explain that because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures.

10 If you have COVID-19 you will die

This statement is a myth. COVID-19 is only fatal for a small percentage of people. In a recent report, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that 80.9 per cent of COVID-19 cases were mild.