On the social media, you can often find folk tips for protection against coronavirus. So, many authors recommend garlic for prevention - but does it make sense?

According to the WHO, garlic is a wholesome product that does have an antimicrobial effect. However, there is no evidence that its use can protect against a new coronavirus - and even more so in the treatment.

During the outbreak of an epidemic in China, people often resorted to similar folk methods - and this did not always end well. The South China Morning Post reported a woman from Zhejiang who read online that raw garlic protects against coronavirus and ate about 16 heads (about 1.5 kilograms) in two weeks. When she went to the hospital with suspected coronavirus, she showed no signs of illness. Instead, she was hospitalized with a sore throat caused by eating garlic - because of the edema, she could hardly speak.

Summarizing the available data: if you feel calmer and close ones are not against a specific smell, a little garlic will not hurt - for example, in the form of cream soup or garlic croutons. But you should not wait for a magical effect and neglect other preventive measures of COVID-19.