ISTANBUL: In Turkey, sprinkling hands with cologne has long been a ritual for a visit to the barber, a meal at a restaurant or even a trip on the bus.
It is seen as a symbol of hospitality, as well as an aid to hygiene, in a country that sets great store by both.
Now Turkish cologne — found in almost every household, either in the fridge or a closet — is seeing unprecedented demand as a weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Many Turks believe cologne, which has a high alcohol content, is effective in keeping hands and faces clean and thus warding off the risk of COVID-19.
Long queues could be seen outside cologne shops in Istanbul’s busy spice market, in the historic Eminonu district, in early March before Turkey announced its first confirmed case.
Now shops and pharmacies have put up signs reading “cologne sold out.”
People are commonly seen sprinkling cologne into their hands in the middle of the street, while taxi drivers offer doses to their clients.
An association in the northwestern city of Izmit is delivering free cologne as well as bread to the elderly, local media reported.
Eyup Sabri Tuncer, a leading traditional cologne maker, said it has received tens of thousands of orders in recent weeks.
“In order for a healthy delivery to the customers... we have temporarily suspended further online orders,” company official Atilla Ariman told AFP.
Bottles of cologne have flown off the shelves since Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged Turks to use the liquid as an alternative hand sanitiser against the virus.
One user, Ilyas Gocdu, said he is using cologne three times more than before. “I believe it is more effective against germs as it contains alcohol,” he said.
Demand is so great that a black market has developed for both cologne and other hand sanitisers, with Istanbul police raiding a manufacturing plant last week to confiscate products made “unhealthily.”
Announcing his government’s economic stimulus package last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said face masks as well as cologne would be handed out free to people aged 65 and over.
Turkey has so far recorded 37 coronavirus-related deaths and 1,529 cases.
Is the belief that cologne is effective against coronavirus grounded in science?
Professor Bulent Ertugrul, board member of the Turkish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said alcohol can destroy the outer membrane of the coronavirus.
“As alcohol is a good solvent, it destroys this lipid envelope,” he told AFP.
Ertugrul said the best protection against the new coronavirus is washing one’s hands after contact with the environment.
But he added: “If soap and water are not available, using a hand sanitiser that is at least 60 percent alcohol can help.”
Cologne fits the bill, he said.
“As we know, cologne contains at least 70 percent alcohol,” he said.
“That’s why it is a good hand sanitiser against COVID-19.”
Turks fight coronavirus with secret weapon: eau de cologne
https://arab.news/6p888
Turks fight coronavirus with secret weapon: eau de cologne
- Now Turkish cologne is seeing unprecedented demand as a weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus
- Many Turks believe cologne, which has a high alcohol content, is effective in keeping hands and faces clean
Sudan now has highest number of people in need ‘anywhere in the world,’ UN warns
- Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric presses states to provide urgent financial support to help meet humanitarian needs that have reached ‘extraordinary levels’
- 34m people expected to need aid this year; UN response plan calls for $2.9bn of funding to provide food, nutrition, clean water, health and protection services, and education
NEW YORK CITY: The UN on Friday pressed member states to provide urgent financial support to help stave off further suffering in war-torn Sudan, where nearly 34 million people are now expected to need assistance this year — the highest number anywhere in the world.
Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that despite the “extraordinary humanitarian needs,” operations remain perilously underfunded and aid workers face mounting risks.
The UN’s 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan calls for $2.9 billion of funding to provide more than 20 million people with life-saving food, nutrition, clean water, health and protection services, and education. But funding lags behind needs, complicating efforts to scale up deliveries of aid.
The civil war between rival military factions in the country, which will enter its fourth year in April, is driving several overlapping emergencies, including acute food insecurity and outbreaks of disease.
According to the UN’s World Food Programme, more than 21 million people in Sudan face high levels of acute hunger, and famine conditions have been confirmed, or are feared to be present, in several regions.
Humanitarian workers continue to face “grave danger,” Dujarric said. In recent months, 92 of them, mostly Sudanese, have been killed, injured, kidnapped or detained, he added, and more than 65 attacks on healthcare providers and patients have been recorded.
Aid groups also warn that conflict-related obstacles, including blockades, drone strikes, and sporadic access restrictions, continue to hamper distribution efforts.
The UN has highlighted the fact that amid the growing displacement of people in North Darfur and North Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been uprooted, water and sanitation services are collapsing in affected areas.
The humanitarian crisis is compounded by regional spillover. Neighboring Chad has closed its border with Sudan amid security concerns, complicating the cross-border flow of aid and threatening already fragile refugee-support systems.
Dujarric warned that without increased donor support and improved access, the skills and commitment of aid workers will not be enough to keep pace with spiraling needs.
“Delivering aid at this scale requires flexible funding and guaranteed humanitarian access, so that workers can reach people in need and they can reach them safely and rapidly and without any obstruction,” he said.
