Bleach manufacturers tell people not to use their products to treat coronavirus after Trump's comment

Reckitt Benckiser Plc, the company that makes the disinfectants Lysol and Dettol, have told people to not use their products for medicals purposes after Donald Trump suggested bleach could be used to stop coronavirus.

In an already infamous moment, the president said during Thursday's press briefing on the White House response to Covid-19 suggested that exposing oneself to UV light and injecting disinfectant could stop the illness after he was told about these potential remedies by William Bryan, an acting homeland security official. The president said:

Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light? And I think you said, that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it.

And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting.

And then I see the disinfectant, where 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. As you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.

Sensing that people might actually try this suggestion, which has been branded "dangerous" by social media users, the British owners of the two brands issued a statement warning people not to use household cleaning supplies and disinfectants on their body under any circumstances.

On Friday morning they said:

Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB (the makers of Lysol and Dettol) has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

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.

We have a responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts.

It's actually astonishing that we are in the middle of a pandemic and bleach manufacturers are having to tell people not to use their products on themselves because of something the president said.

Once again, just in case you didn't get it the first time, don't try to inject yourself with bleach, no matter if you have coronavirus or not.