COVID-19: Europe Brewers and distillers making hand sanitizers amid hike in demand

As demand for hand disinfectants skyrocketed due to coronavirus outbreak, brewers and distillers across Europe are using their production facilities to make hand sanitizer.

BrewDog, Leith Gin, Verdant Spirits and Pernod Ricard have ramped up production of hand sanitizer, CNN reported. Sanitizers are becoming scarce due to a massive spike in demand due to the coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed over 10,500 lives worldwide.

Coronavirus, which first emerged in the Wuhan city of China, has spread to the whole world. The epicenter has now shifted from China to Europe, where the death toll in Italy surpassed that of China. Trump is of the view China is responsible for an outburst of the coronavirus.

BrewDog announced it would start making hand sanitizer at its brewery in Scotland on Twitter Wednesday.

"We are determined to do everything we can to try and help as many people as possible to stay safe. It's time to keep it clean," tweeted the company.

Another Scottish company, Leith Gin, also made an announcement Tuesday.

"We have suspended spirit production and are making high strength hand sanitizer for those in need in our local community," tweeted the company.

The distillery also appealed for donations of small plastic bottles to use as packaging.

Meanwhile, the beverage company Pernod Ricard based in France said it would donate 70,000 liters of pure alcohol to produce hand sanitizer.

Early this week, French luxury giant LVMH has announced that its production facilities would start manufacturing large quantities of hydroalcoholic gel.

According to CNBC, the factories that produce perfume and makeup for brands like Christian Dior and Givenchy will be making hand sanitizers starting on Monday. These will be delivered free of charge to the French health authorities.

"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 was quoted as saying in a statement.