Washing hands with soap in the home is an effective way, experts tell us, of reducing the likelihood of retaining viruses on our hands and then ingesting them by touching our face.
We do not necessarily need the more specialized products like hydroalcoholic gel to keep our hands clean.
That is the good news; however when we are out and about and coming into contact with door handles and rails and a variety of surfaces, the hydroalcoholic gel is a good answer to keeping our hands clean when outside the home. So the lack of adequate supplies of hydroalcoholic gel, has been worrisome.
Now there is a solution to the supply shortages. Shortly before it was announced that Minister of State, Serge Telle had tested positive for the virus, (though with mild symptoms) he had decreed that Monaco pharmacists could make their own hydroalcoholic gel to ensure the Principality had adequate supplies of hand disinfectant. It is an emergency measure to deal with the shortage and to respond to requests for this hand sanitizing liquid.
And Monaco pharmacists have responded and leapt to fill the breach. It is reported that one pharmacist has been selling the equivalent of hundreds of 300 mille-litre bottles for cleansing hands at less than 16 euros a bottle from preparations made in her laboratory.
The reported formula the pharmacist followed is that of the World Health Organization (WHO): with dosages of 90 degree alcohol hydrogen peroxide and glycerin. Others recommend adding aloe vera gel also, but that has also become scarce to come by.
You could of course try to order hydroalcoholic gel from websites but reportedly medicines are one of the largest counterfeit markets in the world, so it pays to be extra cautious and know your source.
Thanks to actions by Monaco pharmacists the Principality’s residents can find more and more gel, especially in the light of the crises and epidemics in the countries all around.
But a final note: the gel is best served in a bottle and even bottles can be in short supply. So if your pharmacist is making the gel, then consider talking with him or her about taking along your own clean bottle to fill.
