Perfume brands are finding a creative way to help during the coronavirus crisis.
LVMH, the parent company of luxury brands including Christian Dior and Givenchy, will use its perfume production facilities to make “large quantities” of hand sanitizer and distribute it free of charge to French hospitals, the company announced over the weekend.
"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," LVMH said in a release shared with TODAY Style.
The hydroalcoholic gel will be distributed to French health authorities, including Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, a network of 39 hospitals that serves more than 10 million patients per year.
Coronavirus Pandemic
France has so far reported 29 deaths from the coronavirus, according to the BBC.
Hand sanitizer has been in short supply in the U.S. as well as France, and has been sold out for weeks at many stores.
The company that makes Purell, Gojo Industries, announced last week that they have “dramatically increased” their production of hand sanitizer.
New York State is now also using prison inmates to produce its own hand sanitizer, NYS Clean, which will be distributed to schools, non-profit groups and other agencies.
With hand sanitizer flying off the shelves, many stores have set limits on the amount of hand gel, sanitizing wipes and related products that customers can buy per visit.
When buying hand sanitizer, look for products that have at least 60% ethanol and 70% isopropanol, the CDC recommends. And keep in mind that hand washing is preferable and more important than ever.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
