Calls to South Texas Poison Control Center spike amid coronavirus pandemic
The South Texas Poison Center released its latest call data, revealing a much higher incidence of calls related to cleaning solutions, like bleach and disinfectants, and other coronavirus-related products. The poison center data provided by University Health System shows there have been 934 calls in 2020 for accidental poisoning with this product, a 70% increase from 2019. The data shows more than 1,100 calls were made to the poison center in 2019 for accidental bleach poisonings. In 2020, the year of the novel coronavirus, there was a 157% jump in accidental poisoning inquiries. See the chart below for the latest data from the South Texas Poison Center.