After a flurry of controversies erupted around embattled US President Donald Trump over his response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has spread across the world, his latest remark adds yet another heated spark of criticism across the Internet.
As reported by NBC News and Vox News, the President of the United States made some pretty bizarre suggestions to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus during his daily briefing yesterday (23rd April 2020).
These peculiar remarks were made after Bill Bryan, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology division, made a presentation on research that his team had conducted over the lifespan of the coronavirus, and how it doesn’t live as long in hot and humid environments. The presentation had also mentioned testing through the use of commonly available disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol.
Bryan had said that “The virus dies quickest in sunlight”, which led President Trump to wonder if you could bring ‘light into the body’.
“So 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,” said the President.
As though this wasn’t a bad enough suggestion on its own, he follows this up by suggesting:
“I see 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? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
Of course, he did not indicate what disinfectant he was referring to. And given how much we don’t know about the Covid-19 coronavirus, it is hard to imagine that any such methods would prove effective against it.
This follows after the President had tried to push for the use of the antimalarial medication hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, which has proven to be ineffective against the coronavirus according to the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
What do you guys think of this development?
Also read: The US Department of State Actually Thought Singapore Was in Malaysia