GARGLESA Pilot, Open-Labelled, Randomised Controlled Trial Of Povidone-Iodine Vs Essential Oil And Tap Water Gargling For COVID-19 Patients

Experimental plan After consent is taken, all groups will be briefed regarding the study protocol separately. * Group A will be briefed on the correct procedures of gargling with Betadine®. The participants will be instructed to take 10ml of povidone-iodine (PVP-I), tilt their heads backward and gargle for 30 seconds, three times per day for 7 days * Group B will be briefed on the correct technique of gargling with Listerine®. The participants will be instructed to take 20ml of essential oils, tilt their heads backward and gargle for 30 seconds, three times per day for 7 days * Group C will be briefed on the correct technique of gargling with hydrogen peroxide. The participants will be instructed to take 10ml of hydrogen peroxide, tilt their heads backward and gargle for 30 seconds, three times per day for 7 days * Group D will be briefed about the involvement in this study. They will be managed according to the standard protocol of the hospital with no additional intervention. Monitoring 1. Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs will be taken on day 4, 6 of intervention, and day 12 post-intervention. The swabs will be subjected to detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rt RT-PCR). 2. Patients will be given a chart for them to record their gargling practice and symptoms (if any) during the intervention period ( 7 days) 3. Clinical data collection sheet will be provided to attending clinicians. The required information includes demographic data, daily vital signs, serial absolute lymphocytic count, LDH, chest radiograph, and symptoms. Clinical monitoring will be done until day 14 of the intervention.