Nearly 50 people in North Texas drank bleach this month and officials are warning people it won't prevent or cure coronavirus

• At least 46 people in North Texas drank bleach within the last month, according to the North Texas Poison Center.
• Most of the 46 cases did not result in serious injuries, but at least some of those callers mentioned coronavirus as a reason for drinking the chemical.
• Public health officials are now warning residents that bleach does not prevent or cure the novel coronavirus, and can instead be seriously dangerous to ingest.
• The Texas Poison Center Network also said in a statement it's seen a 71% uptick in calls involving bleach products, and a 63% uptick in calls involving other household cleaners.

Public health officials are warning Texans not to drink bleach after the North Texas Poison Center fielded 46 calls within the last month related to people drinking bleach.

The center's public health education manager, Cristina Holloway, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that at least some of the callers mentioned coronavirus as a reason they swallowed the chemical. Bleach does not prevent or cure the coronavirus, and can seriously sicken, injure, or even kill people.

"We do know that there's a lot of misinformation through the media, through the internet, so that can also be a contributing factor where people are misinformed and hear it from a neighbor or a friend and think it sounds like a good idea when it could potentially be dangerous," Holloway told the outlet.

She added that most of the 46 calls were not severe cases, though 12 of them sought medical help, according to NBC DFW.

The Texas Poison Center Network said in a statement that it's seen a 71% uptick in calls involving bleach products, and a 63% uptick in calls involving other household cleaners.

Poison control centers, bleach manufacturers, and experts issued warnings earlier this year about the hazards of injecting or ingesting bleach after President Donald Trump speculated at an April press conference about injecting disinfectant to kill the coronavirus. He later said he had been speaking sarcastically.