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Published 18:39 IST, April 24th 2020

Fact Check: Did Donald Trump advise injecting people with disinfectant to fight COVID-19?

Fact Check on whether Donald Trump talked about injecting people with disinfectant to fight COVID-19. Trump had a task force briefing on March 23, 2020.

Reported by: Surabhi Sabat
null | Image: self

Claim: Did Donald Trump talk about injecting people with disinfectant to fight coronavirus?

 

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What is the rumour about?

  • U.S. President Donald Trump conducted a Coronavirus task force briefing on Thursday. Post the briefing, there has been an outcry on social media as well as among the medical professionals. 

  • Donald Trump advocated the use of disinfectant in an injection form to clean out the lungs, as the disinfectants have proved to be useful in cleaning out the virus. 

  • Take a look at a few forwards from Twitter and the mixed reactions to Trump's suggestions post his White House briefing. 

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Image courtesy: Twitter

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Google Trends 

After an analysis of Google Trends with respect to Donald Trump advising people to use disinfectant in an injection for coronavirus rumour, one can see that people have been hugely interested to know about the same. The maximum number of searches have been done on April 24, 2020, and the trend seems to be stable throughout today. 

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Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Rating: True

Republic World did a fact check 

  • Republic World did a fact check on whether Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus. The claims were found to be True. 
  • On Thursday, March 23, Donald Trump discussed with his task force officials the possibility of injecting people with disinfectants to fight the coronavirus. He further suggested if any research could be done regarding the same. Although he has NOT advised the people of the United States to start injecting themselves with disinfectants. 
  • President Donald Trump conducted a task force briefing on Thursday, where he discussed the ongoing research done by the U.S. government. He also discussed the various recommendations and suggestions which could be worked upon in the medical field to find ways to kill the coronavirus. 
  • At the start of the briefing, an official presented the research done by the U.S government stating that coronavirus was seen to weaken quicker when exposed to sunlight and heat.
  • Their study also mentioned that bleach also killed the virus in the saliva or respiratory fluids within five minutes whereas using isopropyl alcohol would kill the virus more quickly. However, Trump stated that the research should be carried out with caution, and thus he approved to continue the research in that area.

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  • Trump also stated the discussions that he had with Dr Deborah Birx, who is the White House coronavirus response co-ordinator. He mentioned that further researches are going to be carried out to check on what happens if the body is hit with a tremendous amount of UV or any powerful light. He also suggested that bringing the light inside the body through the skin or in any other way could also be tested.
  • Note: The US FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) has strictly warned against ingesting disinfectants. 

Is there any rumour you want Republic World to do a fact check on? Do you have facts about a rumour? Share your pictures or videos with Republic World on contact@republicworld.com or comment on this story itself. 

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Promo image credit: Crystal de Passillé-Chabot on Unsplash

Updated 18:39 IST, April 24th 2020

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