A London woman and her four children drank their own urine after reading a false claim that urine could cure COVID-19, according to Newsweek.
The unnamed woman reportedly received the advice to drink her urine via WhatsApp, the popular messaging platform, according to a report from Healthwatch Central Health London. The woman and her child followed the advice, drinking their own urine for four days.
The report also noted that the woman “believed that Bill and Melinda Gates will introduce vaccinations and that they would be dangerous for her family. She said she trusts traditional cures instead.” (RELATED: Woman Says She Was Fired From Her Waitress Job For Not Wanting Coronavirus Vaccine)
False COVID-19 information convinces mom, 4 kids to drink urine for 4 days https://t.co/2CVrHfiQq6
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) February 18, 2021
Since the start of the pandemic, inaccurate information about COVID-19 and the vaccine has become prevalent online.
“We were told of a stigma associated with contracting coronavirus, and also of the fake remedies and conspiracies shared via WhatsApp. This, coupled with a lack of trust in ‘official’ channels of information, presents a problem that needs highlighting and addressing,” the report stated.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, said they are unable to censor content on a large scale, according to Newsweek. Instead, the company uses machine learning to find fake accounts and limits the number of times a message can be forwarded to other uses, Newsweek reported.