President Donald Trump has suggested patients could be injected with disinfectant as a way of fighting coronavirus.
Speaking from the White House podium, the president of the United States said it could be “interesting to check it out”.
“I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute,” Mr Trump said.
“And is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? It would be interesting to check that.
“That you’re gonna have to use medical doctors with.”
Injecting disinfectant into the human body could very likely be fatal.
Department of Homeland Security science chief Bill Bryan backed away from the president’s suggestion.
“We don’t do that within our lab,” Mr Bryan said.
Mr Trump interjected: “Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.”
After hearing reports that coronavirus dies within minutes on surfaces in direct sunlight, Mr Trump suggested it as a method of treating patients.
“Supposing you brought the light inside the body – either through the skin or some other way,” he said.
“It’d be interesting to check that. You’d have to use medical doctors.”
Coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, herself a medical doctor, had to dismiss the president’s suggestion.
“Not as a treatment,” Dr Birx said.
Mr Trump called upon her to see if his theory could work.
“Maybe you can. Maybe you can’t. I’m not a doctor. But I’m a person that has a good you-know-what,” the president said.
Mr Trump hit out at a reporter who questioned his approach.
“Respectfully, sir, you’re the president and people tuning into the briefings, they want to get information and guidance and want to know what to do,” The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker said.
“They’re not looking for rumour.”
The president replied: “Hey Phil. I’m the president and you’re fake news.”
Mr Trump also pointed out that the US coronavirus outbreaks appear to be worse in states that do not support him politically.
“It is interesting the states that are having trouble are blue,” he said.
“The states that seem to have the problem happen to be Democrat.”
Later in the press conference he dismissed reports of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un being gravely ill as “fake”.
Source: 9News
