US President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of an “injection” of disinfectant into a person infected with coronavirus as a coronavirus deterrent at the White House daily briefing today.
Bill Bryan, a Department of Homeland Security official who leads the department's Science and Technology division, under questioning from reporters, later said federal laboratories are not considering such a treatment option. He added that heat and humidity alone wouldn’t kill the virus if people don’t continue to social distance.
NBC reports that Trump made the remark after Bill Bryan gave a presentation on research his team has conducted that shows the virus does not live as long in warmer and more humid temperatures.
Bryan said, “the virus dies quickest in sunlight," leaving Trump to wonder whether you could bring the light "inside the body."
Trump said he sees the disinfectant that 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 US President said as you see it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.
He did not specify the kind of disinfectant.
The president has repeatedly touted unproven treatments during the briefings for COVID-19. For instance, he has touted hydroxy-chloroquine and as a potential "game changer" in the battle against the coronavirus, but health officials have strongly cautioned against it.
An Arizona man died in late March after ingesting chloroquine phosphate — believing it would protect him from becoming infected with the coronavirus. The man's wife told NBC News she'd watched televised briefings during which Trump talked about the potential benefits of chloroquine.
Later asked to clarify, Bryan said this is not the kind of work he does in his lab, before Trump jumped in and added, “maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work.”
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