Calls About Bleach Poisonings Double in NYC After Trump Touts Quack Coronavirus Cure

Calls to New York City’s Poison Control Center rose after President Trump said doctors might be able to inject COVID-19 patients with disinfectants to cure them of the coronavirus, the New York Daily News reports. Between Trump’s Thursday press conference and Friday afternoon, the center received 30 cases of residents who feared they’d ingested bleach or other household disinfectants. None of the cases required hospitalization and, as Reason pointed out, there was no indication those callers had actually ingested poison. During the same time period in 2019, the Center reportedly fielded 13 calls. Nine of this week’s cases reportedly involved Lysol, even though the manufacturer specifically advised against ingesting disinfectant in response to the president. Calls to poison hotlines have generally spiked across the country since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, before Trump’s press briefing.