Did you hear that Japanese scientists have found that a dry mouth will increase your chances of falling ill with coronavirus, so you should drink water every 15 minutes to wash pathogens into your stomach acid?

Or that it's confirmed by researchers at Stanford that the virus is not heat-resistant and that keeping things above 27 degrees neutralises the threat? Gargling with bleach is also apparently effective, if done cautiously.

Going to water ... the fake news on drinking every 15 minutes and other false hopes in the time of coronavirus. Credit:James Brickwood

None of this is true, of course. But I've seen it all circulating on social media. You've probably seen it too. And it's almost always shared by well-intentioned friends and relatives.

They used to be old wives's tales. Now they've been turbocharged into fake news. The reason this news travels – like a virus – is that people are inclined to believe what they hear from family and friends. But Uncle Jack never used to have a megaphone to yell about how garlic every morning would stop the virus.