Peach of a problem: Canned fruit no panacea for COVID

With the optimization of COVID-19 prevention measures in China, a fruit has gained wild popularity on social media for its alleged properties to heal coronavirus infection.

The canned yellow peach has become a hot-selling commodity at many stores and supermarkets in China, particularly those in northeastern provinces.

As one of the mysterious "folk prescriptions" among northerners in China, the canned yellow peach is believed to have a healing magic ingredient for both children and adults regardless of the severity of the disease.

In addition, peach in Chinese, tao, has the same pronunciation as "escape," symbolizing the good wish of avoiding disease in the times of pandemic.

However, medical experts insist that canned yellow peach has no antiviral effect.

"It cannot relieve symptoms of the disease and is more like a sweet 'placebo' rather than a remedy for fever and cough," noted Gao Xiaoling, deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University.

An announcement by Leasun Food, a famous canned food processing company, also calls on customers not to hoard canned yellow peach, urging them not to spread rumors about the fruit's so-called "magic effect on COVID-19."