Almost 500 people die in Iran after drinking methanol to fight COVID-19

In Iran, 480 people died and 2,850 sickened as a result of methyl alcohol poisoning, which they drank to fight coronavirus, AP reported referring to Hossein Hassanian, an adviser to Iran’s Health Ministry.

“Other countries have only one problem, which is the new coronavirus pandemic. But we are fighting on two fronts here,” said Dr. Hossein Hassanian, an adviser to Iran’s Health Ministry who gave the higher figures to the AP. “We have to both cure the people with alcohol poisoning and also fight the coronavirus.”

In recent weeks, fake news has been spreading in Iran that alcohol supposedly kills coronavirus. As a result, the demand for artisanal alcoholic beverages has risen sharply in the country, since drinking alcohol is prohibited there.

Thus 5-year-old boy is now blind after his parents gave him toxic methanol in the mistaken belief it protects against the virus.