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It wasn’t until the threat of a rapidly spreading, disruptive pandemic that people started to stock up on hand sanitizers. The New York Times reported that a man from Tennessee stockpiled 17,700 (!) bottles of hand sanitizer. (He’s since donated them). Take a trip to any local drugstore—or any grocery store, really—and you’ll notice the fears of the coronavirus outbreak have caused a sanitizer shortage, not only in the US but other countries, too. LVMH—the French conglomerate behind Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Christian Dior and more—announced Sunday that its factories will shift their focus to producing free hand sanitizer.
Starting today, the factories that produce LVMH’s perfumes and cosmetics will create “large quantities” of sanitizer gel to be delivered to hospitals and other health authorities to combat the shortage.
“Through this initiative, LVMH intends to help address the risk of a lack of product in France and enable a greater number of people to continue to take the right action to protect themselves from the spread of the virus,” the company said in a statement. “LMVH will continue to honor this commitment for as long as necessary.”
France went into lockdown over the weekend to mandate social distancing. Restaurants, clubs, cafes, cinemas, and other non-essential places are closed. “Markets and food shops, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, newspaper, and tobacco stores will remain open,” French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said, per CNN. People can still attend their places of worship but large ceremonies are not recommended. That said, if you don’t have to leave your home—DON’T.