Trump's own administration 'scrambles' to prevent people from using disinfectants the way the president suggested

On Friday, The Washington Postreported that members of the Trump administration are "scrambling" to make sure people don't actually try to inject themselves with household cleaning products — as President Donald Trump himself suggested on Thursday scientists should be looking into.

"The federal government scrambled Friday to stave off a potential wave of public health emergencies sparked by President Trump’s dangerous suggestion that injecting bleach or other household disinfectants into the body might cure people of the novel coronavirus," reported Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Yasmeen Abutaleb, and Lena Sun.

"It was only the latest dubious medical tip from a president struggling to contain a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 50,000 Americans," continued the report. "The Food and Drug Administration warned Friday against the use of hydroxychloroquine — the anti-malarial drug that Trump repeatedly has promoted as a 'game-changer' miracle cure for covid-19 — because it has been found to cause serious heart rhythm problems."

"Within hours" of Trump suggesting the use of disinfectants inside the human body, according to the report, "urgent bulletins were issued — including from inside Trump’s own administration — warning the public of potentially lethal dangers." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, issued a statement on Twitter warning, “household cleaners and disinfectants can cause problems when not used properly.”

Even before Trump's comments, said the Post, "The CDC issued a report Monday that found U.S. poison control centers were seeing a surge in calls about exposure to cleaners and disinfectants amid the coronavirus outbreak. Between January and March, there were 45,550 calls — a 20.4 percent increase from the same period last year."

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