I think it goes without saying that if COVID-19 was easily prevented or cured by a random product you find on a Carousell, the world wouldn’t be in this situation today.
I mean imagine if all the penis enhancement pills and instant 6 packs surgery worked — perhaps I’ll be working for Hollywood instead of Goody Feed. And maybe people will stop telling me to cut down on bubble tea if only that injection kit I bought from a shady uncle was actually real. Don’t ask me what does a dong got to do with being Hollywood famous.
In times of crisis like this, a lot of people like me who face money issues from spending too much on useless crap — though some are just genuine greedy scumbags — will look to capitalise on fear and scam your money.
By a lot, I mean that the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) issued warnings to more than 1,100 unique seller accounts from 1 Jan to 10 March 2020, according to a The New Paper article.
No Evidence That Any Of Those Actually Work
I mean look at it this way: the United States government is working on a US$1 trillion stimulus specifically to combat the COVID-19 situation for the economy. Yeah, that’s a trillion with a T. Meaning it’s a thousand billions, or a million millions.
You can make a million millionaires with that money wor.
Which means that any legitimate cure for the COVID-19 is automatically worth at least a trillion, not even accounting for the non-monetary value it brings. Without COVID-19, there wouldn’t be any need for the stimulus.
So you really think someone with a real cure will try to profit off random desperate poor people instead of profiting off a government even more desperate to keep the economy afloat?
But don’t take my word for it. The advisory that HSA put out said, “There is currently no evidence that any health supplement, Chinese proprietary medicine, traditional medicine, herb or ‘clip-on’ product can boost the immune system specifically to help prevent, protect against or treat COVID-19.”
Any kind of test kits that claim to be able to diagnose COVID-19 within 10 minutes is also fake. Only clinical laboratories or medical professionals in clinics and hospitals can ensure an accurate result and diagnosis with proper testing.
The HSA has removed more than 2,500 fake or misleading products during Operation Pangea, an Internet-based enforcement action coordinated by Interpol between 3 March and 10 March.
Pretty cool that even HSA name their operations, machiam NS seh.
Some Of These Are Even Harmful
Turns out, some of these products might even turn you into real Smurfs. By that, I mean that your skin turns permanently blue. Would have been really useful for the Smurf event in France.
But in case you have a real fetish for blue people, you can find the said product from a conspiracy theorist called Alex Jones. A “nano-silver” toothpaste, which he claims can kill “the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range”.
The Federal Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health say colloidal silver is not safe to use and can even cause argyria, a bluish-grey skin discolouration that’s typically permanent.
In Singapore, the HSA isn’t clear on the exact kinds of products we can find, so I can’t tell you what other hilarious side effects they might have.
If you find any of these products, be sure to report them to HSA through email at [email protected] or phone at 68663485, or to the respective website administrators.
Dealers and Sellers Can Be Jailed Up to 12 Months and/or Fined Up to S$20,000
The HSA reminds the dealers and sellers that health products cannot make any claim or reference to a specific infection or claim effectiveness against a specific microorganism, including the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Anything that you want to claim, it must be supported by science.
Any products with some claim in relation to COVID-19 must be evaluated and registered with the HSA. If not… then the gahmen will pay you a very nice visit lah.
