History has shown that there will always be those who try to cash in on health crises, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Fraudulent claims surrounding coronavirus treatments and testing have lead the Securities and Exchange Commission to halt trading on 23 different biotech companies, and social media has been flooded with an anachronistic villain: snake-oil salesmen. Unfortunately, one of the most popular sources for misleading cures is the President of the United States.
President Donald Trump has continued to spark controversy this week with his claims about potential treatments and tests for COVID-19. Scientists, medical experts, and, surprisingly, bleach manufacturers have all come forward to express concern over the dangerous solutions offered by the President, but he has merely shrugged off his comments as "sarcastic". In what was perhaps his most shocking coronavirus press conference, the President mused on whether or not doctors should consider injecting Americans with disinfectant.
"And then I see the disinfectant, 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?" the President said. "Because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it'll be interesting to check that, so that you're going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds interesting to me."
Unsurprisingly, this suggestion was met with widespread opposition, including from multiple bleach and disinfectant manufacturers.
"Due to recent speculation and social media activity... 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)," Reckitt Benckiser
Trump has since argued that the media has overreacted to his disinfectant comments and has claimed that his comments were made sarcastically.
"When I was asking a sarcastic - and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. 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 President said.
It's worth noting that, while the President claims his statements were made in response to a question, reporters have clarified that Trump's original comments were made before the question-and-answer portion of the briefing had been reached. According to NPR, he was addressing a Homeland Security official at the time. This isn't the first time that Trump has claimed he was being sarcastic during controversial statements.
Trump has also suggested that blasting the body with UV light could be used to treat the virus.
"Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous-whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light-and I think you said that hasn't been checked because of the testing. . . . And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way," the President said at a press conference.
Medical experts have, once again, come forward to contradict the President. While sunlight has been shown to effectively kill the virus on surfaces and in the air, experts say it definitely shouldn't - and can't - be used in this way on the body.
"His comments are exceedingly dangerous and not supported by medicine or science, and have troubling ramifications," Dr. Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist with SvPrevention consulting, told Business Insider.
Most importantly, simple sunlight is not the same sort of light used to disinfect medical equipment.
"UVC is really nasty stuff - you shouldn't be exposed to it," Dan Arnold, a salesman with UV Light Technology, told the BBC. "It can take hours to get sunburn from UVB, but with UVC it takes seconds. If your eyes are exposed ... you know that gritty feeling you get if you look at the sun? It's like that times 10, just after a few seconds."
Sunlight also won't protect people from the virus. The President's language could lead people to believe that the virus will be killed in the sun if they come into contact with it.
"Even if two people are out in the sun in close contact, if you cough on the other person or on their hands and they touch their face, the sun doesn't play a part in that," Popescu said.
Poison control and emergency rooms across the country have seen an increase in people, including kids, being poisoned by household cleaners. State agencies have been flooded with calls from citizens asking about treating themselves and their children with disinfectants, something which can be deadly.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, has defended the President's comments on Fox News. When asked by host Jesse Watters if she thought Trump was "putting anybody in danger", Birx said no.
"The president has always put health and safety first," Birx told Fox News. "I think you can see that in the way that he was supportive of slowing the spread guidelines, knew the impact that would have on the economy."
