A top German doctor recommends whiskey to protect against COVID-19 (he’s joking…but still)

Updated: In keeping with Facebook's efforts to report fake news, we have updated this article to include the doctor's full statement.

While the World Health Organization vehemently disagrees, Dr. Juergen Rissland, a lead doctor at the Institute for Virology at Saarland University Hospital in Germany, went on the record to say: Drinking whiskey can protect against COVID-19.

And that is definitely one report we can all get behind.

While appearing on "The Morning Show," Dr. Rissland was asked about whether or not drinking could kill any viruses a person may have ingested. "Yes, of course, that's true," Dr. Rissland responded. "And the higher the percentage of alcohol, the better it is. For example, if you are a whisky lover, then that certainly isn't a bad idea," he continued, while offering this bit of sage advice to pace yourself: "But of course you need to bear in mind that you can't do that every 15 minutes, that is something else to consider."

After being prodded a little further by the show's co-hosts who asked him if he was really suggesting folks drink high-proof alcohol, Dr. Rissland laughed. "I would like to say it can't hurt, but in the end, it is definitely not a panacea. For God's sake, you shouldn't get me wrong here. I just wanted to make the point that the virus is vulnerable to high-proof alcohol, because it has an outer layer made of fat, and high proof alcohol destroys the virus. And one would need to drink quite a lot to get any sort of protection from infection."

So we'll take his advice with a good sense of humor... and probably a shot of whiskey.

Prost!