To prevent infection of the novel coronavirus, 44 people have died from alcohol poisoning in the Khuzestan and Alborz in Iran.
This was over misguided efforts to ward off the new coronavirus by drinking bootleg alcohol. "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," explained Ali Ehsanpour, spokesman of Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences.
The outbreak of the virus in the Islamic republic is one of the most alarming.
Drinking alcohol is prohibited in Iran for all people except for some non-Muslim religious minorities. This has been implemented since the establishment of the Islamic Republic government in 1979. Lethal cases of poisoning caused by bootleg liquor are regularly reported by local media.
The bootleg alcohol was made from methanol, which is found in antifreeze, solvent, and fuel, in a failed attempt to prevent contracting the coronavirus. Bleach was used to mask the color. The component makes it far more toxic than ethanol, the kind of alcohol safe to drink.
According to the Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences, 218 people were confirmed to have been hospitalized in the western province of Khuzestan.
Out of the surviving patients, one is reportedly now blind while others are in a critical condition.
8,042 have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in Iran and 291 were killed due to the virus, making it the hardest hit country in the Middle East.
According to Mohammad Aghayari, deputy prosecutor of the city of Karaj, meanwhile, there had been 7 fatalities from alcohol poisoning in the province of Alborz.
Iran has the most deaths attributed to the coronavirus in the Middle East.
In Khuzestan, more people have died from alcohol poisoning than from the coronavirus, with more than 30 people who died from poisoning and 18 who have died from the virus.
The rumor also has made its rounds throughout Indian social media and was debunked by the World Health Organization (WHO). It was also alleged that spraying alcohol or chlorine can prevent the coronavirus from entering the body.
Alcohol is banned, so Iranians were using industrial alcohol sold in supermarkets as sanitizers.
Other rumors and unscientific treatments on how to fight the virus have been widespread on social media.
Iran is having trouble mitigating the spread of the virus with a shortage of sanitizers and preventive gear especially for the medical staff across the country. Both domestic mismanagement and international sanctions have affected the country's health system during the current outbreak.
The COVID-19 epidemic has hit all of 31 provinces in Iran.
The fatalities had drunk methanol after being "misled by content online, thinking they were fighting coronavirus and curing it," according to Aghayari.
Large quantities of methanol can lead to blindness, liver damage, and death.
Tito's Vodka was trending last week after warning users that vodka products cannot be used as hand sanitizers to protect themselves against the spread of coronavirus.
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