Fact or Fiction: Flushing out the coronavirus

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - COVID-19 can not be flushed out of your body, despite videos and online suggestions circulating to drink every 15 minutes or intake harmful disinfectants.

Sinus rinses are also not a sound solution.

“I wish that worked, but that’s false. That’s a myth," Roper St. Francis Internist Dr. Robert Oliverio said. “The virus attaches to the lining of the throat and the nose and infects through there and other places. So even though it sounds like it may work, these things aren’t pipes where you flush stuff out.”

That guidance isn’t new, but after a daily Coronavirus Task Force news conference Thursday, the parent company of Lysol and another disinfectant warned Friday that its products should not be used as an internal treatment for the coronavirus.

“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” the statement from Reckitt Benckiser read.

Trump noted Thursday that researchers were looking at the effects of disinfectants on the virus and wondered aloud if they could be injected into people, saying the virus “does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”

“And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning," Trump said. "Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds -- it sounds interesting to me.”

Meanwhile, Oliverio said best way to stay healthy is to protect yourself and avoid exposure in the first place.

"Once [the virus] in your nose - it's in your nose. Once it's in your mouth, it's in your mouth. That's one reason we're telling people wash your hands. If you haven't been able to wash your hands, don't touch your face," he said.

Infected droplets can land in your nose, mouth and even eyes.

Since the onset of the novel coronavirus, there’s also been some scary advice circulating to gargle bleach or disinfectants to kill the virus.

Doctors say that could kill you and is not true medical advice.