US President Donald Trump has distanced himself from blame after reports that hundreds of Americans were inquiring after his suggestion ‘disinfectant injections’ could be a possible cure for coronavirus.
During a press briefing on April 27, a reporter asked him about the State of Maryland reporting more emergency calls regarding ingestion of disinfectants.
In his response, Trump claimed that his comments were made sarcastically at journalists present when he made the comments and not William Bryan, acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate who he was interviewing at the time.
“I can’t imagine why. I can’t imagine that,” said Trump, denying responsibility in relation to the Maryland governor’s office issuing an alert after receiving over 100 calls.
“I think when misinformation comes out or you just say something that pops into your head it does send a wrong message.
“This week we had hundreds of calls come in to our emergency hotline at our health department asking if it what was right to ingest Clorox or alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus. So we had to put out that warning to make sure that people were not doing something like that which would kill people,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said.
Trump, who is facing criticism for his handling of the pandemic suggested the bizarre cure after Bryan said the coronavirus appears to weaken more quickly when exposed to sunlight, heat and humidity.
“Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous… whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light. Supposing we brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. Sound interesting.
“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…As you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs,” Trump said.
Trump and COVID-19 misinformation
This is not the first time Trump has been accused of spreading wrong information on remedies for coronavirus. On April 25, The New York Times reported that prescriptions for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine surged by more than 46 times after Trump touted their effectiveness in the coronavirus fight.
“I think it could be something really incredible,” Trump said on March 19, adding that the two drugs had shown “very, very encouraging results” in treating the virus.
However, the The Food and Drug Administration warned against use of the two outside of hospitals or clinical trials due to the risk of heart rhythm problems.“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19,” the FDA warned, adding that both can cause abnormal heart rhythms and a dangerously rapid heart rate.