It is incredible that it even needs saying, but whatever you do, don’t for a moment entertain the noxious lies of the so-called Genesis II Church of Health and Healing.

It seems astonishing that during this pandemic there was a need to ask any health professional or scientist whether disinfectants could be used to treat people with Covid-19. But we live in surreal times. So this was a question I, and many others, were asked after the president of the United States of America spoke enthusiastically about such an idea during one of his press briefings.

The face of New Zealand’s director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said it all when the question was posed to him. There’s a good reason disinfectants come in childproof containers. Because they are dangerous. Yes, they can destroy bacteria and viruses. Unfortunately, they do the same thing to our cells too.

But there are some people who believe one specific disinfectant can cure 99% of all illnesses. From cancer and autism to infectious diseases like malaria and HIV. And now Covid-19. They don’t refer to it as a disinfectant though. They call it Miracle Mineral Solution, or MMS for short. It turns out that in the days before the president’s now infamous press conference, he was sent a letter asking him to stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from barring the sale of MMS to treat Covid-19.

MMS is made by reacting sodium chlorite with a weak acid such as citric acid. When mixed together they produce chlorous acid which degrades to chlorine dioxide and then eventually to chloride ions. Chlorine dioxide is used for bleaching paper and textiles and sometimes for disinfecting drinking water and swimming pools. In other words, MMS is basically an industrial bleach.

The FDA has been trying to stop Americans from drinking MMS for years. They’ve issued warning after warning about the serious and potentially life-threatening side effects of taking it. These include nausea, diarrhoea, and severe dehydration that can lead to death. They’ve also shut down many of the websites selling it.

Which is why the MMS-peddlers resorted to founding their own church – the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing – complete with their own self-styled clergy. As far as they are concerned, they have the “God-given, unalienable rights to maintain and control their personal health” and consider MMS their sacrament. Interestingly, the church also provides members with a letter of religious exemption from vaccinations and mandatory medications.

Back in late 2014, their leader and “archbishop” James Humble came to New Zealand. We were one stop on his Australasian seminar tour, where he charged people hundreds of dollars for the privilege of hearing him talk about MMS. At the time, Humble and his church were touting MMS as a cure for the Ebola outbreak that was happening in West Africa.

Today it’s Covid-19. Small mercy then that the president of the United States referred to disinfectants and not Miracle Mineral Solution, as that would probably have helped to send sales through the roof. And before you think we are immune to this in New Zealand, according to their website, we have two “chapters” of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing. Both state that they have MMS available.

So just in case I haven’t made myself clear, please don’t take their industrial bleach to protect you from Covid-19. Or anything else for that matter.