Bali scientists turn palm wine into hand sanitisers to fight coronavirus crisis

While the world is facing a shortage of hand sanitisers amid coronavirus pandemic, pharmacists on the Indonesian island of Bali are making their own unique sanitisers from thousands of litres of fermented palm wine.

As per reports, Bali’s Police Chief, Petrus Reinhard Golose, came up with the idea as he observed supplies of alcohol-based disinfectants were in short and the prices were soaring high for the few that were left in the market. The availability of hand sanitisers has been heavily affected as it remains a high-priority requirement in both, health facilities and at homes. 

In the wake of the current situation, Golose rustled up approximately 4,000 litres of the popular potent beverage, known as arak, by asking local manufacturers for donations from their stocks. Reportedly, the local police force also dipped into its own funds to buy extra supplies.

READ: 64 Infected With Coronavirus At Nursing Home In Drzewica

WHO Standard Hand Sanitisers

As per reports, the staff at Bali’s Udayana University was then tasked with turning the wine into a hand rub that could protect against the deadly coronavirus. Within a week, the university staff was reportedly able to produce a disinfectant with a 96% alcohol content to meet WHO standards. 

The officials revealed that the sanitisers were also mixed with clove and mint oil in a bid to prevent it hand irritation. While speaking to a media outlet, Dewas Ayu Swastini, who is the head of the university’s pharmaceutical faculty, said that so far they were able to produce approximately 10,600 bottles of hand sanitisers using arak. He also said that the Bali police have been distributing these bottled to people in need. 

READ: Stock Markets Drop As EU Fails To Strike Coronavirus Bailout

Hand sanitisers for coronavirus relief

Several countries have also decided to produce hand sanitisers in a bid to tackle the shortage of anti-viral products. Last month, the luxury goods company LVMH, which owns Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy, also announced that they will be producing ‘large quantities’ of hydroalcoholic gel. As per reports, the company is expected to make 12 tons of the gel; however, the product will only be given to French authorities for no charge. 

The legendary Australian bowler Shane Warne has pledged to use his resources to help the people of Australia. As per reports, his brand of gin called ‘SevenZeroEight’ will temporarily stop production of consumable alcohol and focus on providing Western Australia hospitals with 70% alcohol hand sanitisers. The move by Warne's company was made after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged companies to help out amid shortage of medical supplies.

(Image source: Unsplash) 

READ: Iran Urges IMF To Sanction Its $5 Billion Emergency Loan As Coronavirus Cases Increase

READ: UK Town Uses Oregon's 'exploding Whale' Fiasco To Give Coronavirus Lessons