LORAIN, Ohio — Health and community leaders in northeast Ohio are concerned after a “home remedy” to combat COVID-19 has appeared around the Lorain area.
What You Need To Know
- The "cure" is being sold for $100 in the Lorain Latino community
- The ingredients used in the "home remedy" are unknown
- There is no known cure for coronavirus
Victor Leandry has been helping the Latino community in Lorain for 16 years, working with El Centro.
"This is what I know what to do. Help the community. So I enjoy it. I really like it," said Leandry, executive director of El Centro.
It's why he sprang into action when he learned someone is targeting that community with what they claim is a COVID-19 home remedy.
"They were describing the container when they first opened it as very toxic and the smell like a Clorox smell,” Leandry said. “And we right away say 'no, no, no stop using this.’"
Leandry said the supposed cure is being sold for $100, but the bottle has no label and no one knows what's in it.
"They're being told take it, put eight drops in a glass of water, and take a glass of water with eight drops every single hour until they run out of it."
Dr. Robyn Strosaker, COO of University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said the "cure" isn't just bogus, it can be very dangerous.
"You know, and so we have treatments now that if you need to be hospitalized with COVID we know that there are medications we can give you that will shorten your duration of hospitalization and lessen your symptoms," said Dr. Strosaker. "So if the goal is to avoid more care, you may be doing the opposite of that by taking this home remedy."
Leandry said El Centro will be meeting with the health department to see if they can determine what's actually in the jars, but he's asking anyone in the community who comes across it to not take it and reach out to El Centro for help with COVID-19 resources.
"Please, if you have one of these containers, stop, immediately stop taking it and please don't give it to nobody,” he said. “There's no cure for COVID-19. The only thing that is protection — something that it will protect us from getting COVID-19 — and those are three vaccines that are approved and they are safe and they're free for the entire community."