'Dettol kills Coronavirus' label leaves netizens baffled; company offers clarification

Ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus, misleading information has been on the rise. Recently, a picture of the label of the Dettol cleaner has taken the internet by storm with netizens claiming that Dettol knew about the virus much before the outbreak. This comes as COVID-19 has infected over 1,11,381 and killed nearly 3,882 with a majority in mainland China. 

The label of the product read that it ‘kills E.Coli, Salmonella, MRSA, Rotavirus, Flu virus and cold viruses (human Coronavirus and RSV).' 

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The clarification

Soon after the image went viral, the manufacturers of the Dettol products, Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB) took to Facebook to clarify that the product was effective against other coronaviruses which included MERS Coronavirus and SARS coronavirus. They said, 

As this is an emerging outbreak RB, like all manufacturers, doesn't yet have access to the new virus (2019-nCoV) for testing and, as a result, are not yet in a position to confirm levels of effectiveness against the new strain. Our products have been tested against other coronaviruses (such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV) and have been found to kill those. Although 2019-nCoV is a new strain, this virus is very similar to other coronaviruses.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

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