‘Hit body with UV-light, inject disinfectant,’ Donald Trump’s COVID-19 cure throws USA into a panic

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has taken it upon himself to devise impromptu medical cures for COVID-19, whether it be the overemphasis on the usage of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, or the new plan he is now suggesting about– of using UV light and disinfectants on humans as a potential treatment.

White House officials held their heads in horror as the President went on to passionately advocate his illogical, extremely unscientific and particularly lethal propositions. Donald Trump was addressing the media on behalf of the United States COVID-19 Task Force when suddenly he was enthused by the idea that the virus was observed to be rendered inactive upon prolonged exposure to sunlight, humidity and heat. He then decided to take things in his own hands, even as officials, including White House Coronavirus advisor Deborah Birx, were sent in a tizzy.

“Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light,” Trump said. He then added, “Supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way.” Once he began with his individual expert opinions on the subject, there was no stopping Trump, who went on to opine, “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 United States couldn’t thank its solid federalism enough, as it became more than evident that Donald Trump is the last person to be handed with the baton to fight the public health crisis which has already claimed over 50,000 lives in the country. Following his insane comments, people who took his medical advise seriously thronged helpline numbers, asking whether they could go ahead with consuming disinfectants in order to fight COVID-19.

The medical fraternity, including top doctors and epidemiologists around the world, couldn’t really comprehend the depth of lethal idiocy brazenly displayed by the President of the world’s most powerful nation. This included the US Surgeon General, who had to put out the following tweet to prevent people from taking the man seriously and consuming disinfectants:

The medical experts were left befuddled, who wondered how the President could simply blurt out, during a live press briefing, whatever hit his vivid imagination.

“These products have corrosive properties that melt or destroy the lining of our innards,” McGill University thoracic surgeon Dr Jonathan Spicer told the BBC. It really doesn’t need a medical expert to tell people that consumption of disinfectants can cause lethal damage to the interiors of humans. As for the usage of UV light, Dr Donna Farber, an immunologist at Columbia University, told the BBC Mr Trump’s suggestions of using ultraviolet (UV) light were “not practical”. “UV doesn’t really penetrate very far,” she said. “So even if you were to put it inside or outside, it’s not going to even get to the lung… we just get a suntan or sunburn, and it causes DNA damage.”

Meanwhile, disinfectant companies were flabbergasted with the mere idea of people consuming their products as a possible cure for COVID-19. Reckitt Benckiser, which owns brands including Lysol, Dettol, Vanish and Cillit Bang, said that its products should not be administered “through injection, ingestion or any other route” under any circumstances. “Our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information,” the company said in a statement.

Following immense backlash for the utterly baseless propositions, Donald Trump attempted to walk back on his statements, saying that he was just being sarcastic with the reporters at the press briefing. “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” he told journalists at an event in the Oval Office.

It does not take a genius to note that this is an absolute lie and that the video footage of the briefing, in which Trump is seen passionately advising the researchers and medical fraternity on the future course of action w.r.t disinfectants, shows otherwise. Far from being sarcastic, Trump seems very serious about the subject, and upon being asked by a reporter as to why he was using the podium to further baseless rumours, he goes on to call him out for being “fake news”.

This is not the first time that Trump has taken the global pandemic to be a joke and has in the past gone about portraying hydroxychloroquine as the ultimate cure to COVID-19. Now while hydroxychloroquine is proving to be very useful against the disease, it must be taken only under strict medical supervision.

Trump had earlier endorsed the drug as it “could be a game-changer.” He then added, “And maybe not. Maybe not, but I think it could be, based on what I see, it could be a game changer. Very powerful, they’re very powerful,” he said. Following such active endorsement, a couple ingested chloroquine phosphate, since it sounded so similar to what was being spoken about on TV, the lady who’s husband passed away due to the consumption, said. She herself was treated under critical care.

In Nigeria too, two cases of chloroquine poisoning were reported after U.S. President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the novel coronavirus. Further, authorities noticed a sudden upsurge in demand of the drug in Lagos, home to 20 million people.

The fact that the President of the United States is constantly making illogical and some would say, even life-threatening comments is something which is a cause of deep worry, not just for Americans, but even for people worldwide, who might end up believing the man and his inane comments merely because he’s the President of the US. While the consumption of disinfectants can go on to kill humans, the usage of Ultraviolet and other forms of radiations can cause immense damage to our genetic material. It can also cause skin cancer, and hence, is not a potential cure for COVID-19. The last thing we want is for the cure to be more lethal that the disease ever was. 

Thei Unted States continues to be ravaged by the pandemic. With over 927,000 confirmed cases and 50,000+ deaths, the US is having to also bear a President who seems to have an expert opinion and solution to every problem that there is.