Doctors around the world have issued strong warnings for people not to use disinfectant to treat coronavirus. Their plea follows suggestions on Thursday by US President Donald Trump that disinfectant could potentially be used to treat COVID-19. President Trump said: "I see the disinfectant, where it knocks [the virus] out in one minute.…Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning?…It gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs." On Friday, Mr Trump said his comments had been made "sarcastically". The White House press secretary said the media took the comments out of context and ran "with negative headlines".

Disinfectants are hazardous and toxic substances. They can be poisonous if ingested and have fatal consequences. Reckitt Benckiser, maker of the best-selling disinfectant Lysol, warned that its product should "under no circumstance" be injected or ingested. The president of the American Medical Association also joined in the chorus of concern regarding President Trump's comments. She said: "It is unfortunate that I have to comment on this, but people should under no circumstances ingest or inject bleach or disinfectant." She added: "Rest assured, when we eventually find a treatment for or vaccine against COVID-19, it will not be in the cleaning supplies aisle."