Coronavirus: New York sees spike in disinfectant exposure cases following Trump’s dangerous treatment musings
US president’s false suggestions regarding use of cleaning agent widely condemned
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.New York revealed a spike in cases of disinfectant exposure in the 18 hours following Donald Trump’s dangerous and false suggestion that injecting the cleaning agent could help treat coronavirus patients.
The city’s Poison Control Centre managed 30 cases from Thursday evening until Friday afternoon, a spokesperson told New York Daily News – more than double the number of cases the centre dealt with over the same period last year.
It followed an extraordinary White House press briefing on Thursday that saw the US president wrongly tout the potential of disinfectants injected inside the body to treat Covid-19.
“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, because, you see, it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number,“ Mr Trump said.
Following the briefing, the Poison Control Centre reported: nine cases of possible exposure to Lysol, a US brand of disinfectant; 10 cases regarding bleach; and 11 to household cleaners generally.
That compared to just 13 cases over the same 2019 period.
On Friday, Mr Trump claimed his comments had been “sarcastic”, although both video footage and a transcript of the press briefing suggested otherwise.
“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters ... to see what would happen,” the president said on Friday as he signed another coronavirus relief bill into law.
But Mr Trump’s dangerous musings were condemned by experts, and forced makers of commercial cleaning products to warn customers against ingesting them.
“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 a statement from the parent of the company that makes Lysol and Dettol, Reckitt Benckiser.
The US surgeon general’s office also tweeted a reminder to all Americans: “Please always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments