With the reported cases of novel coronavirus in France nearing 4,500 with 91 deaths, some of the country's most famous luxury brands are switching from perfume to hand sanitizer.
Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, the parent company of Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy, wants to help French health authorities by manufacturing hand sanitizer and providing it to them for free.
LVMH said it will use all the production facilities of its perfumes and cosmetics brands to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gel, or hand sanitizer, starting Monday.
The gel will be delivered to French health authorities and the Assistance Publique-Hospitaux de Paris, a network of 39 teaching hospitals that treats more than 8 million patients each year, according to its website.
"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 press release.
LVMH's move comes in the wake of widespread shortages of hand sanitizer across the globe. In the US, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that the state would be producing its own hand sanitizer by employing inmates.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says washing hands with soap and water is still the best way to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. For hand sanitizer to be effective, it must have at least 60% alcohol, according to the CDC.
