Chicago Distillers Build a Vigilante Hand Sanitizer Industry

Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have each shown success with slowing the pace of the coronavirus outbreak due in part from learning lessons during the 2002 SARS outbreak. Combining different approaches to social distancing and quarantine, travel restrictions, and public health campaigns focused on hygiene best practices, the countries have shown that it doesn't necessarily take "China’s draconian measures" to mitigate the spread.

Thousands of people in Wuhan, China are volunteering to buy groceries, get medicine, and take community members to the hospital as a means to help those that need it during the coronavirus outbreak. Although the volunteers do not knowingly transport anyone diagnosed with coronavirus, the drivers wear protective clothing during their drives, which are organized by local neighborhood committees.

In early January, doctors at UW Medical Center began preparing for a coronavirus outbreak by transforming a research lab into a screening center for coronavirus that delivers results within a day. Now, coupled with a mobile clinic that allows for people to be tested from within the confines of their cars, the city has been able to test a large volume of people more safely than if they were being tested from within a hospital.

Several distilleries across the U.S. are shifting gears from producing beer to instead producing hand sanitizer to play a part in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Combatting the shortage of the product, while also promoting better hygiene, distilleries are experimenting with recipes based on federal and World Health Organization guidelines and giving the product to patrons as well as donating to charities.

As a grass-roots response to assist vulnerable populations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, communities around the world are using social media to distribute supplies, services, and advice. One such group on Facebook, the Bristol Community Care - Covid-19 Mutual Aid, has gone viral with thousands of members seeking to help or receive help.

As restaurants look at a myriad of ways to enhance the cleanliness of their businesses in light of the coronavirus pandemic, a distillery in North Carolina chose to shift their focus from gin-making to making and distributing hand sanitizer. The owners of the distillery are also training neighboring businesses "how to use the solution responsibly," and then donating bottles of the sanitizer after they complete the session.

Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, North Carolina's health centers are relying on old methods to reach and educate uninsured and medically vulnerable patients, many of whom don't have access to the internet. Staff are posting fliers in commonly-trafficked locations, hanging signs at health centers, taking out television ads, and asking community leaders to relay hygiene guidelines by word of mouth.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, school districts are trying a number of approaches to ensure students still have access to free breakfasts and lunches even though they are not coming to school. In some cities, bus drivers are bringing meals to different neighborhoods. The federal government is also working to transfer what would be spent on school lunches to families in the form of food stamps.

To limit exposure during coronavirus testing, South Korea began piloting drive-thru test sites that allow those being tested to remain in their cars. The drive-thru, which sends results to the patient via text message three days later, has tested nearly 400 people in one day, helping to ease pressure oncovi other testing sites.

Health care workers at the University of Washington are now able to get tested for coronavirus via a drive-through. Providing both convenience and safety by limiting exposure of the potentially ill, the test only takes five minutes and those tested usually get their results within a day.