BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Some rumors on social media claim that one can self-diagnose COVID-19 by holding breath for more than 10 seconds.

The fact is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), being able to hold one's breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort does not mean the person is free from COVID-19 or any other lung disease.

"You cannot confirm it with this breathing exercise, which can even be dangerous," the WHO warned.

"The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are dry cough, tiredness and fever. Some people may develop more severe forms of the disease, such as pneumonia," it said.

The world's leading health agency suggested that a laboratory test is the best way to confirm if one has contracted the virus.

"Most young patients with Coronavirus will be able to hold their breaths for much longer than 10 seconds. And many elderly without the virus won't be able to do it," tweeted Faheem Younus, chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health.

Robert Legare Atmar, an infectious disease specialist at Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN that the test is simply "not correct."

As Thomas Nash, an internist, pulmonologist and infectious disease specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, told Reuters, the alleged breath test, which claims that holding breath successfully for over 10 seconds basically indicates no infection as there is no fibrosis in the lungs, is "just made up."

Diagnosing fibrosis requires a pulmonary function test where the patient "breathes into a tube which is connected to a computer that analyzes lung function," he said.