CDC: 39% Of Those Surveyed Misused Bleach After Trump Pushed Disinfectants, 4% Gargled With Cleaners

Reuters reports:

More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus, according to a survey taken shortly after President Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat COVID-19.

Washing food with bleach, using household cleaning or disinfectant products on bare skin, and intentionally inhaling or ingesting these products were some of the most commonly reported “high-risk” practices in a May 4 online survey of 502 U.S. adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.

Some 39% of people surveyed reported intentionally engaging in at least one high-risk practice not recommended by the CDC to prevent coronavirus infection, including using bleach to clean food or misting the body with a disinfectant spray. Four percent drank or gargled with diluted bleach solutions, soapy water or disinfectants.

Americans are gargling with bleach and drinking household cleaners to prevent coronavirus, a CDC report says.

This poses “risk of severe tissue damage and corrosive injury.”

18% of participants applied agents to their skin. Nearly 10% inhaled fumes.https://t.co/qKSCWOt87K

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 5, 2020