Soak in sunlight for 15 minutes to kill coronavirus, says minister Choubey
Amidst increasing cases of COVID-19 across the country, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday (March 19) came up with yet another novel ‘remedy’ to ward off the disease.
The minister advocated “absorbing sunlight” as a possible precaution against coronavirus that has claimed over 8,000 lives globally.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Choubey said at least 10-15 minutes in the sun would build immunity as sunlight provides Vitamin D.
“From 11 am to 2 pm, the sun is shining brightly. We should spend at least 10-15 minutes to absorb sunlight so that we get vitamin D which improves the immunity of our body and also kills such viruses. All should be aware of (this fact),” he said when asked about the spread of coronavirus.
#WATCH Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey: People should spend at least 15 minutes in the sun. The sunlight provides Vitamin D, improves immunity and also kills such (#Coronavirus) viruses. pic.twitter.com/F80PX6VOmy
— ANI (@ANI) March 19, 2020
The minister’s comments come a day after the prime minister urged Parliamentarians not to make any unofficial statement about the increasing scare of the epidemic and unscientific remedies.
According to reports released by the Union Health Ministry, neither Vitamin D nor exposure to sunlight found reference in the three-page document listing “preventive measures”.
COVID-19 cases in India climbed to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Union health ministry.
The cases include 25 foreign nationals – 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.
According to the World Health Organisation, the novel coronavirus has killed over 8,000 people globally and infected more than 2 lakh.
