The Quebec Gov't Responded To The Vaseline Trick To Fake Negative COVID-19 Tests

According to alleged leaked chats between the infamous Sunwing party flight group, 111 Private Club, shared on popular Instagram accounts like @od_scoop, some of the travellers had planned to use a Vaseline trick to falsify their COVID-19 test results.

One of the people in the alleged chat said that Vaseline is "made up of covalent hydrocarbon molecules" and "pH measures the concentrations of hydrogen ions in an aqueous solution." They claimed that "Vaseline is not soluble in water" and therefore that it "has no pH" which, for them, would mean that there would be "no positive result."

The Ministry of Health and Social Services responded to this practice.

"Inhaling Vaseline in the hope that it will falsify a PCR test result is a zany, ineffective practice, and can potentially have harmful effects. Don't do it," warned Marie-Claude Lacasse, the MSSS media relations coordinator, in an email to Narcity Québec.

According to Prescrire.org, a monthly magazine for health care workers published since 1981, "pulmonary damage (lipid pneumonitis) has been described when liquid kerosene [petroleum jelly] is regularly applied to the face or nose, when it is involuntarily inhaled or when it is used in nasal solutions."

On January 4, Federal Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that an investigation would be launched into "allegations of non-compliance with rules and regulations regarding COVID-19 and aviation safety."

Sunwing said that an investigation would be launched and cancelled the flight of the passengers concerned. Both Air Transat and Air Canada said they wouldn't allow the partying travellers on flights back home with their airlines.

It should be noted that people who present false information to customs can face thousands of dollars in fines and potential criminal charges.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.