[jackthehammer]

Zinc supplements taste nasty and cause a burning sensation on damaged tissue. Zinc lozenges (e.g., Zicam cold-eze) have much lower dose of Zn++ and have sugar added. It is unclear exactly how much zinc in in Zicam. It is far lower than what is in most OTC zinc supplements.

I recommend the nasty zinc supplements: they're cheap, pack a lot of zinc and you'll know when you feel them work. One bottle of 100 tablets 50 mg Zinc gluconate costs for $7 should last you through years of pandemics. In contrast a package of 25 Zicam sugary zinc lozenges costs $15.

I usually split or even quarter a 50 mg zinc tablet - they're that bitter. Don't take too much b/c they may dull sense of smell. Some people claim to have lost their sense of smell due to zinc overdosing. I usually don't take zinc but for this pandemic I've committed to an occasional nasty disgusting fragment of a zinc tablet each day.

Best is to lie down on your back and allow the zinc lozenge or zinc pill to dissolve in your mouth slowly so you can coat the epithelial cells in the mouth, throat and nose. You could gargle with the zinc and then swallow it.

In any case, swallow the zinc b/c that will allow it to be absorbed by the stomach and intestines and then move to your bloodstream, where it can deactivate some virus (more below).

But new virus production occurs inside each cell in the cytoplasm, and little zinc normally passes through the cellular membrane.

Chloroquine and other quinine compounds apparently "punch holes" in the cellular membrane and allow Zn++ ions to flood through. Once inside the cytoplasm Zn++ halts viral replication.

Tonic water has very low levels of chloroquine/quinine but it is by no means established that the full 500 mg chloroquin/day dose used for malaria is necessary to stop covid-19. Probably less, perhaps even far less, will create enough ionic "gateways" to move Zn++ through the cells' membranes. But, in any case, this requires adequate zinc as Zn++ in your system.

And the Zn++ on your throat will inactivate most viruses that land in your throat, nose and mouth anyway.