Practicing Yoga Can Prevent Coronavirus, Says UP CM Who Also Thinks Swine Flu Is Not A Disease

Amid the growing concerns over the global outbreak of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned about the spread of an infodemic - which is defined as "an overabundance of information ¡ª some accurate and some not ¡ª that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it."

AFP

While the world is frantically searching for cure and medicine both or preventive measures, most of the time they are flooded with misinformation which will only make matters worse.

Now Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that deadly diseases like coronavirus can be eliminated by regularly practising yoga.

BCCL

Inaugurating the week-long International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh on Sunday, Yogi said that one who remains both mentally and physically fit through yoga need not fear diseases like coronavirus.

¡°The Indian tradition needs to be understood more deeply as it has tremendous things to offer through yoga. The world is waging a war against mental and physical illnesses. If these are cured, then no one will suffer from blood pressure, heart attack, kidney failure, liver failure or even coronavirus for that matter,¡± he said.

The UP CM also added that, ¡°The very first training given to space travellers is certain yogic kriyas along with pranayama to stay fit. This is a well-kept secret.¡±

BCCL

Speaking at a separate event in Aurangabad to inaugurate a month-long vaccination drive for children to prevent recurrence of Japanese encephalitis (JE) and acute encephalitis (AE) syndrome Adityanath said that ¡°flu is not a disease¡± and people develop cold and cough merely due to change in weather.

"Yesterday, I found that there was information about some number of people dying of swine flu in Meerut. Flu is not a disease. When the weather changes, some people catch a cold. It is flu in itself. Based on what it causes, we call some as swine flu or bird flu or by any other name,¡± he said.

Adityanath said that even if the virus had spread, there was no need to create panic.

This is not the first time those holding public offices have been accused of spreading misinformation about Coronavirus.

In January the Ministry of AYUSH had released a health advisory that advocates the use of homeopathy and Unani medicines to ward off infections of the newly circulating 2019-nCoV coronavirus.

Another unsubstantiated claim about preventing Covid-19 was made by Swami Chakrapani Maharaj, president of Hindu Mahasabha. "Consuming cow urine and cow dung will stop the effect of infectious coronavirus. A person who chants Om Namah Shivay and applies cow dung on the body will be saved," he had claimed.