COVID19 — COVID-19

Our crisis dashboard has been created to give you an instant 'big picture' overview of the situation around you both locally, regionally and at an international level.

The dashboard uses multiple data feeds to draw in up-to-the-minute information from several sources and I will continue to monitor and update as required. It also will provide real time information on where hand sanitiser can be found and our level of supplies.

With this holistic, real-time insight, I hope you will be able to make better informed, time-critical decisions when moving about the local area and avoid being affected.

We are now raising money in order to make much needed hand sanitiser for our communities.

BACKGROUND
Times have changed, and we all need to step up and help as we now all face a common yet unprecedented enemy in the shape of Covid 19. To date we have all been watching the news as communities in China, Italy and Spain have been destroyed by the virus. Watching convoys of military trucks taking away bodies for cremation is one of the most sobering things I have seen in years and my thoughts are with those families who never had the chance to say goodbye or give that one last hug to loved ones.

COVID 19 has totally changed our landscape overnight, schools closed, roads empty, town centres quiet, shops closed, with some boarded up for good. The skies are empty of planes travelling to exotic destinations, and families are now wondering how they will survive. Goods that were once plentiful are scarce and, in some cases, a luxury resource. What we watched from afar is now upon us and in our own communities. No one is immune from it and it is a killer of all ages.

It is amazing to see how our communities have risen to the challenge, helping out those in need within their community. Our doctors, nurses, health workers, police, community services and the many volunteers who help both NHS and all the other businesses come from within our communities. They are our life line as they serve selflessly on the front line combating Covid19.

If Downton Distillery can play a small role in helping and preventing the inexorable march and loss of life to COVID-19 then it will do so.

WHY NOW?
Following the fantastic lobbying of Alan Powell, of the British Distillers Alliance, HMRC have agreed to suspend the paying of tax against alcohol. This means that the distillery no longer must pay tax in order to create hand sanitiser. This allows Downton Distillery to step onto the playing field and help our communities. 
Last week we released our first batches of hand sanitiser. This went to local villages around Downton and to the Wiltshire front line services, but sadly it has already gone.

WHAT IS REQUIRED? 
In order to really help and provide hand sanitiser in the quantities required, the distillery needs to buy supplies in bulk. The raised amount will allow the teams behind the scenes the chance to create 10,000L of hand sanitiser.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Creating the hand sanitiser is one part of the jigsaw, identifying key points of contact, delivering it to our front line services and into communities are important parts too. Everyone has a part to play in keeping our communities safe.

Please watch the Downton Distillery web pages for updates as we release more hand sanitiser. Your money will help potentially help save lives and keep your own community safe. Alone we can do so little but together we can do so much, let us know how we can help you beat it.

The following locations have free hand sanitiser points.

Our available volumes are constantly changing in each location. This is due to us responding to front line service requests. There will also be times when we run out of hand sanitiser, please be patient as it will be replenished by the funds that you donate that allow us to provide this service.

We ask that you provide a donation to cover the costs, as this will allow us to purchase more supplies and ensure that we can keep you both safe and supplied during this pandemic. You will need to bring a small bottle which we can fill for you.

Points and timings can be found on the Covid19 Dashboard (down the page).

I received a couple of enquiries about using ‘Whisky’ as an option for hand sanitiser, I would normally have said ‘no’.

However, some research has just come to light over the last couple of days from a study that has been conducted by a research team based in Germany on the “efficient inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) by WHO-recommended hand rub formulations and alcohols.”

What was researched?

Stephanie Pfaender, from the department for molecular and medical virology in the Ruhr-University Bochum, and her collaborators used a viral strain from a patient in Munich and then infected animal cells with it. These cells were then placed in alcohol solutions of various strengths.

It turns out that the new coronavirus though highly contagious is more sensitive to alcohol than Sars or Mers and can be killed almost completely by ethanol concentrations as low as 30% ABV according to the joint study. The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting, therefore “one cannot directly translate these findings towards personal use upon application of whiskey or other spirits”.

Though many spirits such as whisky or gin have an alcohol content higher than that, scientists do not recommend using them as a disinfectant unless in desperate situations. Nor as a direct cure to Covid-19.

They first tried a solution of 85% ABV ethanol with water, a formula recommended by the World Health Organisation for making hand rubs at home when commercial products are not available.

The European team found the formula could eliminate viral activities after 30 seconds of contact and an examination of the treated cells showed no more damage caused by the virus.

They then repeated the tests at lower concentrate rates. At 10 and 20% ABV, most of the viral strains remained intact and active. But when the alcohol content reached 30% ABV they were surprised to find a disinfection rate on a par with the WHO formula (which uses 96% ABV).

Findings?

The researchers said the new coronavirus appears more vulnerable to alcohol than two other deadly coronaviruses – severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). Pfaender has conducted similar experiments with Mers and Sars strains before and found they could withstand ethanol concentrations of more than 35 per cent.

The exact working mechanism of alcohol on the new coronavirus requires further investigation, but a possible explanation may be found in the virus structure, according to Pfaender.

So what does this mean?

Many brands of whisky and gin contain more than 40% ABV (check the bottle). Though not up to medical standards, creating a hand sanitiser with these high ABV spirits (40% + ABV) can still incapacitate the coronavirus on hands, doorknobs and surfaces.

Disclaimer:

Please note that the ABV % of these spirits is below what the World Health Organisation (WHO) advise to be used, nor is Downton Distillery advocating the use of these spirits to be used. This work has been conducted under laboratory conditions.