Recently, social media is abuzz with a post about 'simple self-check test' for Coronavirus. According to the post, people can find out whether they have coronavirus simply by holding their breath for more than 10 seconds. If they can hold their breath without coughing, the test claims they don't have the virus. The viral message is  attributed to “Taiwan Experts,” “Stanford University,” or “Stanford Hospital Board.”

A twitter user shared a post where she wrote,

"#CoronavirusOutbreak Serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases: This is from Stanford hospital board internal message.

1. Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stiffness or tightness, etc., it proves there is no Fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicates no infection.

2. Self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.  Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the viruses. If you don't drink enough water more regularly, the virus can enter your windpipe and into the lungs. That's very dangerous. I hope this helps."

Another Twitter user shared an image with some text written on it, claiming that Taiwanese experts have suggested this self-test method.

At the time of writing this article, this image was shared more than 650 times.

Similar claims are also being widely circulated on Facebook. 

A website named Bollyy.com published an article on similar lines mentioning some Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check. The article also says that one should keep drinking water and keep the throat moist so that if there is a virus, it will go down through your esophagus and into the stomach. Once there in the tummy, stomach ACID will kill all the virus.

The truth behind the claim 

As the claims made in this viral post have been also credited to Stanford Hospital board,  Stanford Health Care spokeswoman Lisa Kim confirmed to America based media house, CNN that the "dangerous" post is not affiliated with Stanford Medicine and "contains inaccurate information."

Stanford University took to twitter and called out the misinformation being spread on its name. 

In the viral message, it is being claimed that Pulmonary Fibrosis is a symptom of Covid19,  to date, no major health agency has listed fibrosis as a symptom of COVID-19 at any stage in its progression. It is not listed as a symptom in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease,” nor is it listed as a symptom in the World Health Organization’s joint report with China on the progression and spread of the disease.

Moreover, holding breath is not a valid test for fibrosis as no scientific study has proven it.

The message also says that Drinking water will protect you from the coronavirus. We have debunked this myth in one of our previous articles which you can find here. 

Therefore, we can conclude the viral message about self-check test credited to Stanford Universit or Tawainese Experts is fake.