Louis Vuitton Owner Making Hand Sanitiser For French Hospitals
The owner of Louis Vuitton LVMH will soon begin making hand sanitiser for hospitals throughout France.
The French luxury goods group will be producing the antibacterial gel at three of its perfume and cosmetics factories as early as today, March 16, to help tackle the nationwide shortage of the product.
Around 12 tonnes of hand sanitiser are expected to be produced at the three French sites in the coming days, in place of the Christian Dior and Givenchy products usually made there.
The gel will be delivered ‘at no charge’ to health authorities throughout the country, in particular the 39 public hospitals in Paris, the group announced in a statement on Sunday, March 15.
The statement continued, as per BBC News:
LVMH will use the production lines of its perfume and cosmetic brands… to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels from Monday.
LVMH will continue to honour this commitment for as long as necessary, in connection with the French health authorities.
It comes as a spokesperson for the Paris hospital system described the supplies of hand sanitiser as ‘strained’, The Guardian reports, adding that other companies have also said they will donate supplies as and when is needed.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address the country tonight regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, which France’s director general of health Jérôme Salomon said today was ‘deteriorating very fast’.
Salomon told the France Inter radio network, as per France 24:
The number of cases double every three days. I want our citizens to realise that there are people who are sick, who are in intensive care and that (their number) runs into hundreds.
5 months agoAccording to the latest official figures published yesterday, March 15, France has 5,423 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 127 people have died as a result of the virus.
France has closed its restaurants, cafes and non-essential stores in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus further, although the country is now preparing for the introduction of much stricter measures.
LVMH’s decision to produce hand sanitiser in large quantities will likely be the first of many examples of large companies doing their bit to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governments across the world are in the process of calling on manufacturers to help make products that are running low, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expected to ask UK engineering firms later today to build ventilators for the NHS.
It’s okay to not panic. LADbible and UNILAD’s aim with our coronavirus campaign, Cutting Through, is to provide our community with facts and stories from the people who are either qualified to comment or have experienced first-hand the situation we’re facing. For more information from the World Health Organization on coronavirus, click here.
Topics: Fashion, Coronavirus, COVID-19, France
