The manufacturing company of the disinfecting cleaning product Dettol has stated that there is "no evidence" that their product helps against the Coronavirus, despite a warning on existing packaging.
Several people have shared Tweets with pictures of their Dettol bottles, showing the message "kills Human Coronavirus" on the back of the packaging.
So dettol has always been ready for #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/Cr40BjnKHz
— John snowman (@oscarmalose) January 31, 2020
RB, the company that owns the Dettol brand, has made an official statement on Monday to clarify that the claim on the back of the bottles only concerns more common variants of the virus, not the potentially deadly strain in China.
A bottle of Dettol dated October 2019 already had protection against the Human Corona Virus on it ?? pic.twitter.com/Mz4Avismnl
— Dodgy Foo (@dodgyfoo) January 31, 2020
"RB has become aware of speculation about Dettol products and the novel 2019-nCoV coronavirus," the statement of the company said. "As this is an emerging outbreak, RB, like all manufacturers, doesn't yet have access to the new virus (2019-nCoV) for testing and, as a result, are not yet in a position to confirm levels of effectiveness against the new strain.
"Our products have been tested against other coronaviruses (such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV) and have been found to kill those," the statement said.
Earlier, the company had also announced that it would donate £5.5 million (approximately €6.5 million) in cash and antibacterial products to combat the Coronavirus outbreak in China.
“We immediately mobilised our experts in China and beyond as soon as the outbreak was identified. In addition to the moral responsibility we feel, we also have an important functional role to play in enhancing personal disinfection through providing enhanced access to products which can break the chain of infection," said Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of RB, in a press release.
"Simple steps such as frequent hand washing will aid the many efforts the Chinese government is already putting in place to protect citizens across the region," he added.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
