You might have heard that injecting yourself with, inhaling or eating/drinking disinfectant or bleach can protect against, or help to cure, COVID-19. This is not true. You might have heard that the US president, Donald Trump, suggested this as a potential treatment for the coronavirus. While it is true that he did recommend this, it has no scientific basis and has been strongly condemned by the medical community.

Never drink, inhale, or inject disinfectant into yourself or anyone else. Doing so would burn your organs, cause potentially severe and permanent organ damage, and could kill you. It would also be incredibly painful. Do not put disinfectants like bleach meant for cleaning surfaces directly on your skin. Most disinfectants will cause irritation and even burns if they are put straight onto the skin. 

Instead, you should follow general guidelines such as social (physical) distancing and washing your hands with soap and hot water, to avoid getting the virus. Anyone showing symptoms of the virus should self-isolate for at least seven days to prevent passing the virus on to other people and should take bed rest and paracetamol to relieve symptoms. If your symptoms become more serious, you should seek medical advice. Do not try to cure yourself with disinfectant.