A third in US go to dangerous lengths in fight against coronavirus, CDC survey finds

Some people in the United States have resorted to drinking or gargling diluted bleach and other risky methods to try to find off coronavirus, a new survey says.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report finds that 8% of those surveyed say they had tried either method in the previous month.

The opt-in internet panel survey of 502 adults, conducted in May, found that 39% reported engaging in risky cleaning practices to try to prevent catching coronavirus, the CDC says, adding that, “Quota sampling and statistical weighting were employed to make the panel representative of the U.S. population by gender, age, region, race/ethnicity, and education.”

The survey showed that 19 percent tried washing fruits and vegetables in bleach, while 18 percent tried bathing with household cleaners or disinfectants. Another 10% tried rinsing with disinfectants or cleaners, and 6% inhaled vapors from cleaning products.

According to the CDC, 25% of those surveyed reported adverse health effects they attributed to unsafe cleaning, such as nose, sinus, skin or eye irritation, dizziness, nausea and breathing problems.

Another 60% of those surveyed reported cleaning or disinfecting their homes more frequently than normal, which the CDC does recommend, the survey found.

But the survey found that many were unclear on safe cleaning practices.

For example, 65% did not know that bleach should not be mixed with vinegar, and 42% did not know not that mixing bleach with ammonia can be deadly, the CDC says.

But 64% did know to wear eye protection while cleaning, and 71% knew about wearing gloves, the survey found.

More than 6.9 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 400,000 deaths as of June 7, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.9 million confirmed cases, with more than 109,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published June 7, 2020 at 1:57 PM with the headline "A third in US go to dangerous lengths in fight against coronavirus, CDC survey finds."