4. Conclusions
The results of this pilot study demonstrated that nasal irrigation and oral rinse with 5% sodium bicarbonate solution was effective in reducing the viral load for COVID-19 patients. The sample size of this study was small. Some patients may already have symptoms before hospitalization, which might affect the total hospitalization time. Further studies with larger population are required to ascertain the benefits of nasal irrigation and oral rinse with sodium bicarbonate solution. Although this is only a preliminary study, the results are very promising. Nasal irrigation and oral rinse is simple and inexpensive. More importantly, this method can be performed at home, which might be an effective way to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2.