Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
Credit: CEN/@HarsovschiLucian
A thief spotted drinking hand disinfectant and then coming back to steal the bottle was motivated by Donald Trump’s advice that it could cure COVID-19 says a deputy mayor.
The US president suggested at the end of last week that the coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the human body, saying later that he meant the remark to be sarcastic.
But a baffled deputy mayor in the city of Suceava in the north-eastern part of Romania said he believed that the man spotted drinking from this wall-mounted hand disinfectant bottle, then returning a short while later to the apartment building in order to steal the bottle from the wall, was probably taking the president to literally.
The black-and-white footage shows the man pumping disinfectant into his hand, then raising it to his mouth and apparently drinking it. He then appears to walk away but at the same time looking around for cameras, and appears to miss the one above his head, as his view does not stop on the device. Instead, a few seconds later he returns and steals the entire bottle.
Deputy mayor Lucian Kharshovski said the footage was captured by CCTV camera in one of the apartment buildings run by the city council.
Kharshovski shared the video online say: “I wonder if this guy has listened to Trump’s advice on disinfectant? If you recognise the character, please tag him in the post to see if he’s okay and healthy. No kidding, he seems to like it.”
After Trump made his statement, medics across the world and that many disinfectants contain toxic chemicals that are only suitable externally and could be poisonous to the human body if ingested or injected.
A number of people are reported to have started drinking the hand disinfectant because of its alcohol content.
In South Africa recently, politicians warned that the ban on alcohol in order to lower the number of hospital admissions and free up beds meant alcoholics had resorted to drinking disinfectant because of its alcohol content.
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