Never, ever, ever inject yourself with disinfectant
US president Donald Trump has won the shock and ire of the scientific and medical communities after suggesting bogus treatments for COVID-19, such as injecting bleach, and UV ray treatment.
Speaking at a briefing on Thursday evening, the US president graced reporters with his thoughts on potential treatments: “I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? So it’d be interesting to check that.”
Similarly, the president suggested that the virus could be attacked by exposure to “powerful light”. He said: “Supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, was on hand during the briefing to note that these methods had not been explored as a way of fighting the virus.
Trump's coronavirus disinfectant comments are 'dangerous', doctors say, after the U.S. president said during a White House briefing that scientists should try to apply their findings to coronavirus patients by inserting ultraviolet light or disinfectant https://t.co/2zD9RYlN89 pic.twitter.com/tdmEHQ5Vd9
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 24, 2020
One doctor, John Balmes of San Francisco General Hospital, said: “Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs. The airway and lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant.
“Not even a low dilution of bleach or isopropyl alcohol is safe. It’s a totally ridiculous concept.”
Trump has previously come under fire from medical professionals for urging citizens, many of whom he claimed “had nothing to lose”, use unproven drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment.
The United States, which has recently seen a number of protests demanding that governors lift lockdown measures, has by far the highest number of both confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide, with over 890,000 and 50,372 respectively.
