Here’s another myth you have heard about the coronavirus: COVID is like Malaria, you can take pills to treat it.
This is not true. COVID-19 is different to malaria; it is caused by a virus whereas malaria is caused by a parasite. This means the way the coronavirus enters your body and attacks your cells is completely different to the malaria parasite, and the treatments are also different. The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a new virus and so far there are no proven medicines that specifically treat it. You may have heard that an old medicine used to treat malaria is being tested to see if it works against the coronavirus, but it has not yet been proven to work. In the meantime, if you take the wrong medicine for the coronavirus, it can cause serious harm to your health.
Note: All of our content is produced using the best evidence available at the time of publishing. We will do our best to update content as information evolves, but please visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website for the most up-to-date information on COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html