Trump 'sarcastically' suggests injecting disinfectants, cos. warn against it

President Donald Trump’s comment that disinfectants perhaps could be injected or ingested to fight COVID-19 received heavy pushback from health and other officials on Friday (April 25) and even prompted the maker of Lysol to warn its product should never be used internally.

Reminder: Lysol disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as directed and in line with usage guidelines pic.twitter.com/yPVhvINxbU

— Lysol (@Lysol) April 24, 2020

As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route), said the statement from Reckitt Benckiser, the parent company of the maker of Lysol and Dettol.

The White House claimed Trump’s comment was misrepresented, but the government also leaped into caution the nation.

Following the backlash, trying to wriggle out of the mess he received for his outlandish suggestions, Trump also said that he was being “sarcastic” when he told his medical experts that they should consider using UV light, heat, or injecting disinfectants into the COVID-19 patients as a potential treatment.

When Trump was asked about his comments during a bill signing on Friday, he said: “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen”.

“I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside,” he said.

Trump suggested he was talking about disinfectants that can safely be rubbed on people’s hands.

“But it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better. That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters,” The Hill quoted Trump as saying.

However, the Surgeon Generals office tweeted on Friday: A reminder to all Americans- PLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one. Your safety is paramount, and doctors and nurses have years of training to recommend what’s safe and effective.

A reminder to all Americans- PLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one.

Your safety is paramount, and doctors and nurses are have years of training to recommend what’s safe and effective.

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) April 24, 2020

The White House accused the media of taking Trump’s comments out of context.

“President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.

“Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”

Trump has acknowledged several times that he’s not a doctor, but has previously suggested various ideas for fighting the novel coronavirus.

Earlier, he repeatedly promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine, saying such drugs could be a potential game-changer in the fight against the virus.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration warned that people should not take chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 outside of a hospital or formal clinical trial, citing reports of serious heart rhythm problems.

Trump’s comments on disinfectants came after William Bryan, who leads the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, spoke at the Thursday briefing about how researchers are testing the effect of disinfectants on virus-laden saliva and respiratory fluids in the laboratory.

“They kill the virus very quickly,” he said.

“And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning,” Trump said.

“Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds – it sounds interesting to me.”

Bryan said injections weren’t part of the disinfectant research.

The president has often talked up prospects for new therapies and has offered rosy timelines for the development of a vaccine as he encourages states to move to reopen their economies.

On Thursday, the White House also pitched emerging research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of the virus.

Past studies have not found good evidence that the warmer temperatures and higher humidity of spring and summer will help tamp down the spread of the virus.

Related news: Top vaccine doctor says Trump fired him for flagging wrong drug focus

But Bryan said at a White House briefing on Thursday that there are emerging results from new research that suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.

He said scientists have seen a similar effect from higher temperatures and humidity.
A biocontainment lab in Maryland has been conducting testing on the virus since February, Bryan said.

“The virus is dying at a much more rapid pace just from exposure to higher temperatures and just from exposure to humidity,” Bryan said.

Trump was asked if it was dangerous to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat, considering that so many people have died in Florida.

“I hope people enjoy the sun. And if it has an impact, that’s great,” Trump replied, adding, “Its just a suggestion from a brilliant lab by a very, very smart, perhaps brilliant man.”

“I’m here to present ideas because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good, and if sunlight is good, that’s a great thing as far as I’m concerned,” the president said.

Bryan stressed that the emerging results of the light and heat studies do not replace social distancing recommendations.

Earlier in the month, scientific advisers told the White House there’s no good evidence yet that the heat and humidity of summer will rein in the virus without continued public health measures.

Researchers convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine analyzed studies done so far to test virus survival under different laboratory conditions as well as tracking where and how COVID-19 has spread so far.

Given that countries currently in summer climates, such as Australia and Iran, are experiencing rapid virus spread, a decrease in cases with increases in humidity and temperature elsewhere should not be assumed, the researchers wrote earlier in April in response to questions from the White House Office of Science and Technology.

In addition, the report cited the global lack of immunity to the new virus and concluded, If there is an effect of temperature and humidity on transmission, it may not be as apparent as with other respiratory viruses for which there is at least some preexisting partial immunity.

Related news: Trump bats for phased reopening of US economy

The report noted that during 10 previous flu pandemics, regardless of what season they started, all had a peak second wave about six months after the virus first emerged.

In March, Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organizations emergencies chief. said, We have to assume that the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread, and it’s a false hope to say yes, it will just disappear in the summertime like influenza.