Trump now suggests injecting disinfectants, bringing UV light 'inside the body' to kill coronavirus
Washington: President Donald Trump has suggested the possibility of studying injecting disinfectants into COVID-19 patients or bringing UV light "inside" their bodies to kill the deadly virus, drawing immediate flak from American health experts who urged people not to listen to such "dangerous" advice.
Launching a new scientific study conducted by his department, Homeland Security for Science and Technology Under Secretary Bill Bryan on Thursday said the coronavirus dies at a much more rapid pace when exposed to sunlight and humidity.
"The virus dies the quickest in direct sunlight. Isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds," he told White House reporters in the presence of President Trump at his daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Bryan's remarks left Trump wondering if there was a possibility of injecting the chemical into a person infected with COVID-19 as a deterrent to the virus.
"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute...And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that," the US president told reporters at the press briefing.
Trump also raised the possibility of using light to combat the deadly viral infection.
"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous (force), whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light - and I think you said that hasn't been checked but you're going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that, too. Sounds interesting," Trump said to Bryan.
Trump's incredulous remarks prompted sharp criticism from health experts who warned people against injecting or ingesting disinfectants, which are highly toxic.
"My concern is that people will die. People will think this is a good idea...This is not willy-nilly, off-the-cuff, maybe-this-will-work advice. This is dangerous," Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, told The Washington Post.
US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn, who is also a member of the White House coronavirus task force, warned against ingesting any disinfectants to kill the coronavirus.
"I certainly wouldn't recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant," Hahn was quoted as saying by the CNN.
Dara Kass, associate professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Centre, also asked people to refrain from doing such things.
"Please don't drink bleach or isopropyl alcohol to remove #COVID19 from your saliva," she tweeted. "It's horrific," Kass told the Post.
People who consume such chemicals often die. Those who survive usually end up with feeding tubes, a result of their mouth and esophagus being eroded by the cleaning agents, she said.
Even as experts from the medical community came forward to challenge Trump's latest remarks, Deborah Birx, one of the top American public health experts, did not respond to the comments about the light therapy or disinfectant injections.
Her lips pressed in a tight line, Brix, who serves as the response coordinator for the White House's coronavirus task force, was silently listening to Trump's comments from the sidelines, the Post reported.
The US has reported over 869,170 COVID-19 cases and nearly 50,000 deaths.
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Lokayukta raids govt officials in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): The Lokayukta on Thursday conducted simultaneous raids at the premises of several government officials across different districts of Karnataka in connection with alleged possession of disproportionate assets, officials said.
The searches were carried out at multiple locations linked to officials working in various government departments in districts including Bengaluru, Mandya, Dharwad, Hassan, Mysuru, Vijayapura and Yadgir, among others, they said.
According to Lokayukta officials, the raids targeted officials holding posts such as Assistant Executive Engineer, Junior Engineer, Deputy Electrical Inspector and Taluk Backward Classes Welfare Officer.
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Among those raided was Assistant Executive Engineer M C Satyanarayana of the Hassan Municipal Corporation.
High drama unfolded during the raid at Satyanarayana’s residence in Hassan, where Lokayukta officials were forced to wait outside the house for more than an hour before gaining access as the door was not opened, sources said.
When Satyanarayana failed to respond to requests to open the gate, officials attempted to enter the house by climbing to the first floor.
In another case, officials conducted searches at the residence of Chief Engineer Vasantappa Nayak of Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited located in Akshaya Colony in Hubballi, sources said.
Currently serving in Bengaluru, Nayak had been transferred from Hubballi to Bengaluru in April last year. Officials are carrying out searches at his residence in Akshaya Colony, they said.
The raids were conducted by multiple teams of Lokayukta officials early in the morning at the residences and offices of the suspects following complaints regarding disproportionate assets.
