In Tanzania, there has been a surge of claims for herbal cures for the coronavirus. Despite endorsements by some public officials, medical experts warn that no treatments should be taken at face value until scientifically tested.
At her farm on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Mwajuma Saidi collects peppers, mango leaves, and other ingredients to steam and prepare what she believes is a cure for COVID-19.
Her granddaughters are taking it, too, even though they are not sick. Mwajuma says they just do it as a precaution.
She says they took lemon, ginger, pepper and onions, then blended them and put it all in a bottle. She added that they started using it in the morning, afternoon and evening for four days, and then they stopped.
There is no evidence Mwajuma's potion does anything to combat the coronavirus nor any others that are being touted.
But the number of people in Tanzania who claim to have discovered a cure for the novel coronavirus keeps rising.
Some are pushing an untested herbal potion, among them Hamis Malebo who promotes Covidol.
Calling it an herbal cure, he says it has been used by a few people and among those who used it, there has been some success. Hamis adds that it has been found to lower fever faster, and that it fights respiratory problems, influenza, and body fatigue — things that emerge with the disease.
Authorities say any coronavirus treatments need to be tested first under strict clinical trials to see if they are effective.
Yunus Mgaya, the director general of the Institute for Medical Research, says what researchers are waiting for are instructions from the institute's general secretary so they can include the herbal medicine in their research.
Meanwhile, Mwajuma and her granddaughters continue to do their best to protect themselves from the virus, even though they are unsure if their concoctions actually work.
