# What are the Chinese spraying on the ground for Coronavirus

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 10, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235 "2020-03-10T23:39:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/1 "2020-03-10T23:39:50Z")

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I’ve seen multiple clips of people in hazmat unforms spraying stuff on ground. Like, on grass even. What is it and why are they doing that?

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**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/2 "2020-03-10T23:57:11Z")

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Business Insider suggests it is a [low concentration bleach-and-water solution](https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-china-dispatches-bleach-trucks-to-spray-down-cities-2020-2). The are probably doing it partly as genuine attempt to do something, and partly as theater. The actual usefulness is almost entirely theater.

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/3 "2020-03-11T00:25:10Z")

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[That sucks for the grass.](https://homeguides.sfgate.com/kill-grass-bleach-40191.html)

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**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/4 "2020-03-11T02:51:46Z")

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My tap water is a low concentration bleach water solution.

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/5 "2020-03-12T01:57:03Z")

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> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> I’ve seen multiple clips of people in hazmat unforms spraying stuff on ground. Like, on grass even. What is it and why are they doing that?

Most pictures of people in hazmat uniforms spraying stuff on the ground are spraying weedkiller. Absent a really clear attribution and provenance, I’d start with that assumption.

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**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-chinese-spraying-on-the-ground-for-coronavirus/849235/6 "2020-03-12T02:00:25Z")

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Apparently it’s working. They’ve had 0 new cases outside the main province the last couple days (obviously what is reported and what is not reported are two different stories but still signs are pointing up).