Among the many plotlines that made up the story of the COVID-19 pandemic, that of miracle cures dominated early on. While Australians were panic buying toilet rolls and Americans hand sanitizers and face masks (Meyersohn, 2020; Stratton, 2021), across South East Asia people were nervously looking for ways to protect themselves by turning to familiar wisdom. Cure-alls and self-concocted remedies for COVID-19 soon circulated on the Vietnamese internet; they included practices such as consuming boiled lemongrass and orange zest before entering or leaving the house, massaging medicated oil onto the feet before bedtime, incorporating spices like chilli, ginger, and garlic into daily meals, or using a hairdryer to blow hot air along the spine and toes (Nguyen, 2020). Similarly, Cambodian YouTube recommended drinking boiled garlic juice, sunbathing in intense heat, or applying garlic juice to the nose to boost one's immune system, thus warding off the virus (Nguyen, 2020). In Indonesia, the demand for turmeric and ginger skyrocketed as they are essential ingredients in the traditional jamu herbal drink (which the Indonesian president endorsed for boosting the immune system and protecting against COVID-19) – leading to soaring prices for these plants (The Straits Times, 2020).

In Malaysia, dried ginseng, scallops, and sea cucumber were in demand as ingredients for tong sui, a traditional Chinese sweet warm soup believed to boost immunity (Chandran, 2020). In Thailand, bitter-tasting kariyat was promoted as an effective treatment of coronavirus symptoms, while the Department of Thai Traditional Medicine and Government Pharmaceutical Organization were working on the development of COVID-19 cures using the medicinal herb Andrographis paniculate, with inconclusive results (The Nation Thailand, 2020). In a similar vein, the Philippine Council on Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology was reported to research coconut oil as a potential agent against the virus (Lim, 2020). South East Asian states were not alone in aspiring to develop treatments for COVID-19 by drawing on knowledge paradigms closely bound in nationalistic sentiments about culture and tradition. To the north, China advocated for ‘Chinese solutions’ to the pandemic and sharing ‘Chinese experience’ in the form of a ‘lung-cleansing and detoxifying soup’ distributed in Wuhan hospitals (Gan and Xiong, 2020). China's National Health Commission also endorsed injections that contain bear bile powder as treatment, to the dismay of critics (Fobar, 2020).