LVMH Will Start Manufacturing Hand Sanitizer to Aid in the Coronavirus Fight

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LVMH is assisting in the coronavirus fight with hand sanitizer.

The French luxury conglomerate today announced that production facilities across its cosmetics branch, including Parfums Christian Dior, Parfums Givenchy and Guerlain, will start to manufacture “large quantities” of hydro-alcoholic gel beginning on Monday. The disinfectant will be delivered to the French authorities at no cost.

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“Through this initiative, LVMH intends to help address the risk of 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 wrote in a statement. “LVMH will continue to honor this commitment for as long as necessary, in connection with the French health authorities.”

LVMH — which parents Fendi, Celine and Louis Vuitton — pledged 1 million Chinese RMB ($144,000) to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation in January. Those funds went toward solving a medical supply shortage in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus originated. LVMH has previously made contributions toward the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as well as to combat wildfires in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, many companies are making the decision to shutter stores and are asking employees to work from home. Globally, there have been over 156,000 confirmed instances of the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, and more than 5,800 deaths, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins. In France, there are nearly 4,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 91 people have died.

Yesterday, France announced that it would close all non-essential stores beginning today, including restaurants and retailers. The government has also restricted public gatherings to 100 people or less.

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