United States President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested treating Covid-19 patients by “injecting” disinfectants into their bodies, drawing fierce criticism and warnings from medical experts in the country, BBC reported.

Trump’s suggestion came after Bill Bryan, the acting undersecretary of science and technology for the Department of Homeland Security, presented the results of a US government research indicating that the coronavirus seemed to become weak after exposure to heat and sunlight. The study also showed that bleach could kill the coronavirus in saliva or respiratory fluids within five minutes.

At the White House’s press briefing on Covid-19, Trump suggested further research in the area but asked experts to proceed with caution. “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light,” Trump said. “And I think you [Bryan] said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way,” he continued. “And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting.”

Trump, then, went on to suggest that Covid-19 patients could be injected with a disinfectant for treatment. “And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute,” he said. “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?”.

Doctors, meanwhile, warned that Trump’ suggestion could be potentially fatal. “This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous,” pulmonologist Dr Vin Gupta told NBC News.

United States’ Food and Drug Administration specifically warned against drinking the chemicals in disinfectants.

“As a physician, I can’t recommend injecting disinfectant into the lungs or using UV radiation inside the body to treat Covid-19,” a doctor named Kashif Mehmood wrote on Twitter. “Don’t take medical advice from Trump.”

With 8,69,172 cases of the coronavirus and 50,372 deaths, US has been the worst-hit by the pandemic. New York, the epicentre of Covid-19 in the US, has reported more than 16,000 deaths.

Read our live updates on the pandemic here