GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — After Trump comment, MN Poison Control caller wonders where to buy 'safe' bleach to use 'internally'
In his coronavirus press conference Thursday President Trump looked to Dr. Deborah Birx, his Coronavirus Response Coordinator, and made a comment regarding disinfectants as a possible coronavirus treatment. "And then I see the disinfectant, where it 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," Trump said. Within 24 hours, the Minnesota Poison Control hotline got a call from someone asking where he could buy a cleaning product that would be "safe" to use "internally." Dr. Jon Cole, the medical director for the Minnesota Poison Control System affirms that there is no safe way to use household cleaning products or bleaches internally. Cole said calls concerning bleach and other disinfectants are already way up this year because of coronavirus and all the stay-at-home orders. But there still was a nationwide spike of another 10% in the days following the President's comments, compared to earlier in the week.
Additional closures to parks, athletic fields and basketball courts announced after crowd complaints
The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) has decided, based on the high volume of complaints they've received about large groups at parks, to close or modify many city-owned facilities. Those modifications and closures are expected to be completed by May 1. According to a post on the city's website MPRB plans to close playgrounds, skating parks and athletic fields. Basketball rims will be removed or blocked, and tennis court nets will come down. As weather warms, signs reminding everyone to social distance will be added to disc golf courses, and picnic areas will limit gatherings to 10 people or fewer. The parks department reports they received hundreds of calls and emails about groups of people playing together in the Twin Cities.
We've heard lots of stories about the different ways people are making much-needed masks during this pandemic. We caught up with Max - who started creating his version well before the coronavirus - but it turns out it's perfect timing for his efforts. Max, the founder of Breathe 99, says his company is designing the B2 mask, a lightweight, reusable respirator "that filters 99% of common contaminants and also reduces filter waste and cost." He outlines several core components to his design. The first is a removable fabric overlay, followed by a molded face piece that he says has a folding hinge - making it easier to transport, for example, in a purse or pocket. The filtration disc, he says, is a small circular component that is electrostatically charged, the thing that makes the mask so efficient in removing the material from the air. Max says these small filtration discs are what help make the mask easier to produce, more affordable and more efficient from a utility standpoint as you are not throwing out the whole mask, but rather just this one piece.
