Cases Of People Injecting Disinfectants Rise In New York City Since Trump's Disinfectant Remark

Cases of people ingesting household cleaners have skyrocketed in New York City since Donald Trump’s controversial disinfectant remark. On April 24, Trump suggested the injection of disinfectants into the human body to help fight the novel coronavirus.

On Monday, the National Public Radio (NPR) reported that they were able to register 30 cases of people injecting household cleaners 18 hours after Trump’s comments. The number of cases that day was significantly higher than the 13 cases reported within the same timeframe in 2019.

According to Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokesman Pedro Frisneda, nine of the 30 cases involved citizens who were exposed to Lysol, 10 to bleach, and 11 to other household cleaners.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also noted an increase in calls from people who ingested cleaners and disinfectants in the first quarter of the year. The CDC reported that the cases of exposures to disinfectants and cleaners have spiked by up to 20 percent, as opposed to the same period last year. The uptick in calls reportedly began in early March, despite warnings that there was no definite link between disinfectants and COVID-19.

“Although a causal association cannot be demonstrated, the timing of these reported exposures corresponded to increased media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of consumer shortages of cleaning and disinfection products, and the beginning of some local and state stay-at-home orders,” reported the CDC.

Last week, the Agence France-Presse reported that Trump raised the possibility of ingesting disinfectant to protect oneself from the coronavirus. “Then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks the virus 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 on the lungs,” the press quoted Trump as saying.

As medical experts quickly rebuffed his suggestion, Trump claimed on Friday that he was only speaking “sarcastically” when he made the remark. “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” he told reporters.