Since the start of the coronavirus health crisis, the Belgian Poison Center has been overwhelmed by calls. In March alone, 15% more calls than in March 2019 were recorded, according to a dispatch from the Belga press agency, broadcast by RTBF. In April, this increase even reached 20% with more than 1,000 additional calls, according to the Flemish daily newspapers De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad.
In addition to a sharp increase in cases of drug and alcohol poisoning, cases of poisoning with ... bleach have increased twelvefold! Many cases of burns or irritation have been reported. “People call us because they are going to disinfect their hands with bleach. They will also take a shower or a bath with bleach, ”Dominique Vandijck, deputy director of the Poison Control Center, told VRT.
When Trump invited bleach
A phenomenon that he directly links to the confused words of Donald Trump, who had suggested the idea of injecting bleach to protect against the coronavirus. "We noticed it right away," he says. Not that people are injecting bleach, but they have started using it more and more often. This shows the considerable consequences it can have if these people make such statements. "
The number of accidents with methylated spirits or spirits has also increased, according to the Delga agency. Sometimes serious cases, requiring referral calling to a doctor or hospital. Dominique Vandjick deplores: "We have never seen such an increase [in calls] in the history of the poison center".