Top household disinfectant brands in the UK and US, Dettol and Lysol, have issued a statement cautioning against the use of their cleaning products to treat coronavirus ‘in no circumstances’ after the US President Donald Trump claimed that disinfectant could be used to weaken the disease.
The US president is being condemned after he suggested it would be “interesting to check” whether a disinfectant injection could help combat coronavirus.
His scientific advisor and coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, was left stunned when the president said, “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?”.
Reckitt Benckiser (RB), the British owner of Dettol and Lysol, issued an statement on Friday to discourage “improper use” of household cleaning supplies and disinfectants.
“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),” read the statement.
“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.”
