Amid coronavirus pandemic, Shane Warne turns gin business into hand sanitiser factory

Former Australian spinner and a legend of gentlemen’s game, Shane Warne has decided to turn his gin distillery into a hand sanitizer factory to provide continuous supply to two of Western Australia’s hospital at cost. The move by Warne comes to help with the supply of hand sanitizers to Australians as the situation surrounding the novel coronavirus continues to escalate with each passing day. 

SevenZeroEight, Warne’s gin distillery company named after the number of his Test wickets, has already production of its gin this week in a bid to produce grade 70 per cent alcohol hand sanitizers for Western Australian hospitals in this dire situation. The decision by Warne come along with the company’s co-founders, which have two Western Australian surgical specialists at their helm.

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"This is a challenging time for Australians and we all need to do what we can to help our healthcare system combat this disease and save lives," said Warne in a statement, whose company will solely produce hand sanitizer from March 17 until further notice, while adding, "I am happy SevenZeroEight has the ability to make this shift and encourage others to do the same."

It is not the first time that Warne had helped out in a time of crisis. Earlier, the legendary leg-spinner had put his iconic Baggy Greens for auction in a bid to raise funds for the Australia Bushfire disaster relief programs. Warne’s famous cap was sold for a whopping $1,007,500 by Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn. 

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As of Thursday, Australia has reported at least 565 positive coronavirus cases with six casualties.