One third of Americans used bleach or other household disinfectants “in non-recommended high risk practices” in attempts to reduce the spread of the deadly coronavirus, a new CDC survey finds.
Among the non-recommended practices were using “bleach on food products, applying household cleaning and disinfectant products to skin, and inhaling or ingesting cleaners and disinfectants,” the CDC says, as The Daily Beast reports.
During a nationally-televised press briefing President Donald Trump suggested doctors and scientists should test the “injection” of disinfectants, like bleach or alcohol, into the human body as a way to cure coronavirus.
“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out, in a minute,” Trump said in late April as Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx looked on without speaking up . “Is there a way we can do something like that? By injection, inside, or almost a cleaning, ’cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. You’re going to have to use medical doctors, right? But it sounds interesting to me.”
Makers of the popular household disinfectant brand Lysol were moved to immediately issue a warning that “under no circumstance” should anyone inject, ingest, or through “any other route” use their products.
Reports of Americans misusing bleach and other disinfectants quickly flooded the news, as hospital emergency rooms saw spikes in bleach exposure and other similar poisonings. When confronted with the news of people misusing bleach, Trump refused to take any responsibility.
“I can’t imagine why, can’t imagine why, yeah,” the President exclaimed.