Netizens compare Dr Vivian Balakrishnan with M’sian health minister who claims drinking warm water helps prevent Covid-19

Sharing a video of Singapore’s Dr Vivian Balakrishnan speaking, netizens compared his speech to that of Malaysia’s Health Minister Adham Baba. In a video circulating on social media and Whatsapp messenger, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan spoke about Singapore’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak. The short clip showed him explaining, “But as I said, if you look even in the experience of China, mortality is higher in areas where you have overwhelmed your intensive care capacity. In the case of Singapore – and I’ve spoken to the doctors on the frontline and they tell me, look, we’ve got the resources, we’ve got the staff, we’ve got the equipment, we’ve got the bandwidth to do our best for those patients”. [video width="1080" height="1080" mp4="http://media.theindependent.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/WhatsApp-Video-2020-03-22-at-15.21.03.mp4"][/video] Dr Balakrishnan speaking was juxtaposed with Mr Adham, who, according to the captions of the video, said, “The virus does not like heat”. The health minister, who is a doctor, was said to have recommended that Malaysians ensure their mouths and throats are always moist, as this will help to wash the virus down the oesophagus so that it can be killed by stomach acid. The claim that warm water is capable of defeating the Covid-19 infection has been making the rounds online. BBC has labelled this rumour about drinking water at regular 15-minute intervals and keeping your mouth moist to protect against Covid-19 as false. /TISG