England's deputy chief medical officer has warned people off "injecting anything" into their bodies after Donald Trump commented on the potential of disinfectant being used to treat coronavirus.
Dr Jenny Harries was asked about the US President's comments today after he said the possibility of disinfectant injections would be "interesting" to look into.
Answering a question at the Downing Street press conference, she said: “I wouldn’t have a specific message to Donald Trump, I’d have a specific message to anybody who suggested they should be injecting anything into their bodies.
“I mean, clearly we would not support, from a medical professional perspective, it is really important that people use appropriate treatments that are evidence based and tested.
“We have very good programmes that have been taken up very rapidly, co-ordinated in this country testing various different alternative treatments.
“Those trials will report reasonably early, but certainly nobody should be injecting anything and we should be using evidence-based and properly trialled treatments that we know will be safe.”
There has been criticism around the world of Mr Trump’s comments after he suggested it would be “interesting to check” whether a disinfectant injection could help combat Covid-19.
Disinfectant manufacturers have also spoken out, warning that “under no circumstance” should their products be injected or ingested.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister has described the suggestion as "extraordinary".
Speaking at the Stormont Executive’s daily media update, Arlene Foster said: “It is an extraordinary thing for a US president to say and (I’m) certainly sure that it is not based on any medical advice.
