Fact-check: Do cabbages spread Covid-19?

The WHO and PIB fact checking team had dispelled the myth last year

Multiple posts that claim The World Health Organization (WHO) has said Covid-19 can spread through cabbages have resurfaced on Twitter, Facebook and in WhatsApp forwards, despite the myth being busted by fact-checkers a year ago.

The post typically warns readers not to eat cabbage, citing a false WHO report, as the coronavirus stays in cabbage for a very long time. The message says that while the Covid-19 virus usually lasts for at least 9-12 hours on other surfaces, the virus lasts more than 30 hours on cabbage.

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A WHO India representative had told news agency AFP that the claim was false, and that the United Nations body had not issued the purported advisory. The WHO website also makes no mention of cabbage as an item to be avoided for fear of contracting the virus.

The Central government’s official Press Information Bureau (PIB) had taken to twitter last year to declare the claim untrue, saying the WHO had issued no such report.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says on its website that there is currently no evidence to support transmission of Covid-19 associated with food.

Myths about the coronavirus have been peddled through social media posts and forwards since the virus first broke out in India. The PIB’s fact checking team has busted several Covid-19 myths and remedies. However, the prevalence of misinformation and often-ineffective homemade remedies to treat the deadly virus has been difficult to curtail.