COVID-19 update: After Trump’s suggestion to use disinfectants, lots of people inquired on taking it [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on Sunday that his state received hundreds of inquiries about using disinfectants as a cure for COVID-19 after President Donald Trump proposed the idea during his coronavirus briefing.
• In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer claimed that they also received calls to poison control prompted by Trump’s comments.
• Trump said on Friday that he was being sarcastic with his comments which is contrary to White House’s earlier statement that the president was taken out of context.

Governor Larry Hogan said on Sunday that Maryland received “hundreds” of call inquiries after President Donald Trump proposed at a press briefing that ingesting household disinfectants can serve as a cure for COVID-19.

Public health agencies and experts quickly gave cautions after the president’s pronouncements that absorbing disinfectants is harmful to the body, and could lead to organ damage and even death.

 “I think when misinformation comes out, or you just say something that pops into your head it does send a wrong message,” Hogan said on ABC News.

The governor further continued: “We had hundreds of calls come in to our emergency hotline at our health department asking if it was — if it was right to ingest Clorox or, you know, alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus. So, we had to put out that warning to make sure that people we’re not doing something like that which would kill people.”

Hogan was asked by Anchor George Stephanopoulos on how he would explain Trump’s comments. The governor said he can’t explain it and said the president needs to focus and stick to the message and make sure it’s fact-based.

In another interview with CBS News, Hogan told that it was critical for a president to get the facts straight in light of the worldwide pandemic. “Unfortunately, some of the messaging has not been great,” he said.

Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer likewise told that, in Michigan, they also received calls to poison control after Trump’s briefing.

Whitmer told ABC News: “When the person with the most powerful position on the planet is encouraging people to think about disinfectants — whether it was serious or not, people listen… And so, we have seen an increase in numbers of people calling poison control and so I think it’s really important that every one of us with a platform disseminate medically accurate information.”

During a coronavirus briefing on Thursday, Trump suggested a number of potential treatments for COVID-19, which include using disinfectants and ultraviolet light.

He also asked Dr. Deborah Birx, White House leader of coronavirus task force, for her comments on the possible use of ultraviolet light against the virus. Birx simply said that it’s “not as a treatment.”

The president said on Friday that he was being sarcastic with his pronouncements, contrasting the former claim of White House that the president was taken out of context.

Source: AOL.com