In a video that went viral on several social media platforms, more than 50 children aged between 10-12 years were seen being forced to drink salapa, which is a local country liquor. The event took place in Odisha’s Malkangiri district in an attempt to prevent these children from the novel coronavirus.
While the video has drawn sharp criticism after going viral, residents of the Parsanpali village believe that the consumption of liquor will prevent the children from contracting COVID-19 as alcohol kills the bacteria.
The event draws attention to the lack of information regarding the coronavirus among the people who live in rural parts of the country. Besides, the medical experts continuously emphasising the fact that while alcohol-based sanitisers do kill coronavirus, drinking alcohol does not help fight the infection.
In the viral video, it was evidently visible that no one was following social-distancing guidelines and people were not wearing masks