Trump Touts Research That Virus Is Effected By Sunlight, Floats Dangerous Disinfectant Suggestion

The New York Times: Trump Asks If Sunlight Can Kill Viruses. ‘Not As A Treatment,’ Birx Says.
President Trump has long pinned his hopes on the powers of sunlight to defeat the Covid-19 virus. On Thursday, he returned to that theme at the daily White House coronavirus briefing, bringing in a top administration scientist to back up his assertions and eagerly theorizing — dangerously, in the view of some experts — about the powers of sunlight, ultraviolet light and household disinfectants to kill the coronavirus. After the scientist, William N. Bryan, the head of science at the Department of Homeland Security, told the briefing that the government had tested how sunlight and disinfectants — including bleach and alcohol — can kill the coronavirus on surfaces in as little as 30 seconds, an excited Mr. Trump returned to the lectern. (Broad and Levin, 4/24)

The Associated Press: Trump Showcases Idea Heat, Humidity Could Help Fight Virus
The White House is pitching “emerging” research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of the coronavirus as President Donald Trump encourages states to move to reopen their economies. Past studies have not found good evidence that the warmer temperatures and higher humidity of spring and summer will help tamp down the spread of the virus. But William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing Thursday that there are “emerging results” from new research that suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air. (Freking, 4/24)

Politico: Trump Promotes Theory Suggesting Sunlight Can Kill Coronavirus
“It would be irresponsible for us to say that we feel the summer will totally kill the virus,” Bryan said. “This is just another tool in our tool belt. Another weapon in the fight that we can add to it and in the summer, we know that summer-like conditions are going to create an environment where the transmission can be decreased and that's an opportunity for us to get ahead.” (Ehley, 4/23)

Reuters: Sunlight, Heat And Humidity Weaken Coronavirus, U.S. Official Says
The findings could bolster hopes that the coronavirus will mimic the behavior of other respiratory diseases like influenza, which typically are less contagious in warm weather. But the coronavirus has also proven lethal in warm-weather places like Singapore, raising broader questions about the impact of environmental factors. President Donald Trump said the findings should be interpreted cautiously, but also claimed vindication for previously suggesting that the coronavirus might recede in summer. “I once mentioned that maybe it does go away with heat and light. And people didn’t like that statement that much,” he said at the briefing. (Holland and Sullivan, 4/23)

The Washington Post: White House Touts Lab Study Showing Coronavirus Vulnerability To Summer Weather 
The weather is no panacea when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, considering that warm states, such as Georgia and Florida, already are seeing significant outbreaks, as are warm and humid countries, including Singapore. Even if the virus were to wane during the summer, a dreaded second wave would still be likely in the fall, as has happened with past pandemic flu outbreaks. Earlier this month, a panel convened by the National Academies of Sciences reported to the White House that the pandemic is unlikely to wane substantially with the arrival of summer, though there are many uncertainties remaining. The new lab study, which is directed toward the same NAS group and the White House science adviser, may help reduce some of those uncertainties. (Freedman and Samenow, 4/23)

The Washington Post: Trump Rebuked By Doctors After Asking If Disinfectants Can Be Injected To Kill Coronavirus In People 
After a presentation Thursday that touched on the disinfectants that can kill the novel coronavirus on surfaces and in the air, President Trump pondered whether those chemicals could be used to fight the virus inside the human body. “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” (Chiu and Shepherd, 4/24)

CNN: Sunlight And Bleach Might Kill The Coronavirus On A Park Bench, But They Can Be Harmful To The Body 
Sunlight and bleach can both kill the new coronavirus, a federal official told the daily White House briefing Thursday. But President Trump turned what should have been a simple scientific summary into a puzzling stream of dangerous ideas about somehow streaming light into the body and suggestions about injecting disinfectants. (Fox, 4/24)

CNN: Fact Check: Trump Wrongly Suggests Sunlight Could Help Cure Coronavirus 
On Thursday, President Donald Trump added to his list of dubious or inaccurate coronavirus-related medical claims, wrongly suggesting at a White House briefing that sunlight could possibly be used to treat people who have the virus. Trump also issued a false denial when asked why he has stopped promoting the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment, incorrectly saying, "I haven't at all." He referred to how "we started with a broken test" without explaining that the faulty initial test was created during his presidency, this year. (Dale, McDermott, Cohen, Vazquez, Steck and Fossum, 4/23)

The Associated Press: AP-NORC Poll: Few Americans Trust Trump's Info On Pandemic
President Donald Trump has made himself the daily spokesman for the nation’s coronavirus response. Yet few Americans regularly look to or trust Trump as a source of information on the pandemic, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 28% of Americans say they’re regularly getting information from Trump about the coronavirus and only 23% say they have high levels of trust in what the president is telling the public. Another 21% trust him a moderate amount. (Pace and Fingerhut, 4/24)

The Hill: Poll: 60 Percent Of Americans Think Trump Should Listen More To Health Experts 
A total of 60 percent of Americans think President Trump should listen to health experts more, according to a poll released Thursday. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that a majority those polled disapprove of the president’s management of the coronavirus pandemic, with 6 in 10 saying they think he should pay more attention to health professionals’ advice. (Coleman, 4/23)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Whom Do We Trust For COVID Info?
Congress is approving still more money to address the health and economic fallout of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. But the pandemic rages on ― claiming a disproportionate number of lives among staff and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, and jeopardizing the lives and livelihoods of health care providers and patients alike with problems not related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. And the messaging from the White House is getting even more confusing as President Donald Trump and his science advisers seem to have different playbooks. (4/23)

The New York Times: Trump And The Coronavirus: A Sour President, Home Alone At The White House
President Trump arrives in the Oval Office these days as late as noon, when he is usually in a sour mood after his morning marathon of television. He has been up in the White House master bedroom as early as 5 a.m. watching Fox News, then CNN, with a dollop of MSNBC thrown in for rage viewing. He makes calls with the TV on in the background, his routine since he first arrived at the White House. But now there are differences. (Rogers and Karni, 4/23)

CNN: Deaf Americans Are Urging The White House To Use Sign Language Interpreters At Coronavirus Briefings 
The US Census Bureau estimates that about 11.5 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. Yet months into the coronavirus pandemic, the White House still does not have American Sign Language interpreters at its televised public health press briefings. Many in the Deaf community say they are growing wary of not having important information disseminated to them through qualified sign language interpreters. (Campisi, 4/23)