In response to the coronavirus contagion spreading throughout Europe, Ineos has announced it will build plants in the UK and Germany to produce hand sanitizer.

The plants will be built within 10 days, Ineos said, each producing 1 million bottles per month to address the current critical shortage in Europe. The UK plant will be installed at Grangemouth, Scotland, with the other in northern Germany.

Ineos, the leading European supplier of isopropyl alcohol and ethanol, which are the two key ingredients of sanitizers, said it has been running its plants “flat out” and diverting more product to essential medical use.

The company will produce both standard and “pocket bottle” hand sanitizers and will supply the UK’s National Health Service hospitals free of charge during the crisis.

It added that the sanitizers will be produced according to World Health Organization specifications and be designed specially to kill bacteria and viruses.

Separately, to help protect against the virus in China, Ineos Styrolution has sent 20,000 single-use face masks to be distributed across the districts of Foshan and Ningbo, using its networks throughout the Asia-Pacific region.