U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he was being sarcastic when he suggested that disinfectants could be used to treat coronavirus patients. His comments followed expressions of alarm from health experts and warnings from a maker of the sanitizing solutions.
Trump said Friday that his comments the previous day were not intended to be taken as a serious suggestion.
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“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump told reporters during a bill signing in the Oval Office.
On Thursday, Trump said at his regular White House coronavirus media briefing that scientists should investigate inserting disinfectants into patients’ bodies to cure COVID-19, the disease caused by the new Coronavirus pandemic.
“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection, inside, or almost a cleaning?”
With coronavirus response coordinator and physician Deborah Birx looking on, Trump noted the virus “does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
Physicians and other health experts warned Friday against Trump’s suggestion to use disinfectants to treat the virus.
“(This is an) absolutely dangerous, crazy suggestion,” said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain’s University of East Anglia.
When asked if it is dangerous to make people think they would be safe by going outside in the heat, given that so many people have died in the U.S. state of Florida, nicknamed the “Sunshine State,” Trump said, “I hope people enjoy the sun. And if it has an impact, that’s great.”
Trump’s comments came after Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Science William Bryan said there was “emerging” research on the ability of sunlight and humidity to reduce the threat of the virus.
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Trump asked Birx during the briefing if she was aware of any evidence that heat or light could be used as potential treatment. She responded by saying, “Not as a treatment.”
Past studies have not found evidence that warmer temperatures and higher humidity levels in spring and summer could help curb the spread of the virus.
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