Coronavirus: Louis Vuitton owner to start making hand sanitiser

Louis Vuitton owner LVMH will use its perfume production lines to start making hand santiser to protect people against the coronavirus outbreak. France has now seen 120 deaths from the coronavirus as the pandemic spreads.

The luxury goods maker says it wants to help tackle a nationwide shortage of the anti-viral products across France. "These gels will be delivered free of charge to the health authorities," LVMH announced on Sunday. LVMH will use the production lines of its perfume and cosmetic brands... to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels from Monday," LVMH said in a statement. "LVMH will continue to honour this commitment for as long as necessary, in connection with the French health authorities," the company said.

The factories normally produce perfume and makeup for luxury brands like Christian Dior and Givenchy. The French luxury conglomerate also owns well-known brands such as champagne maker Moet & Chandon, watchmaker Tag Heuer and jeweller Bulgari.

France has closed its restaurants, cafes and non-essential stores in an effort to combat the virus, which has infected an estimated 162,687 people and killed more than 6,000.

Governments across the world have called on manufacturers to help make products that are running low during the virus outbreak.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to ask UK engineering firms on Monday to shift production to build ventilators for the NHS.

In China, at the peak of its coronavirus outbreak in February, electronics giant Foxconn switched some of its production from Apple iPhones to make surgical masks.

Question 1. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

1. The gel made by LVMH will be quite expensive.

2. They will only produce a small amount of gel.

3. Some firms dealing with accessories also belong to LVMH.

4. Other companies in the world will be helping to provide necessary items during the crisis.

Question 2. Answer the following questions using your own words.

1. Why does Louis Vuitton want to make these products?

2. Why has France closed restaurants and cafés?

Question 3. Find words and phrases in the text that correspond to the words given.

1. beginning (par.1)

2. face (par 2)

3. famous (par.3)

4. calculate (par.4)

5. be short of (par 5)

KEY

Question 1

1. False.  "These gels will be delivered free of charge to the health authorities,"

2. False. " ... to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels from Monday."

3. True. " ... The French luxury conglomerate also owns well-known brands such as ....

           watchmaker Tag Heuer and jeweller Bulgari."

 4.    True. " Governments across the world have called on manufacturers to help make products that are running low during the virus outbreak."

Question 2.

1. They want to help the country to cope with the lack of products necessary during this sanitary crisis.

2. France has closed bars, restaurants and cafés, places where groups of people gather and could be at risk of catching the virus since quite a lot of people have caught it already.

Question 3.

1. outbreak

2. tackle

3. well-known

4. estimated / to estimate

5. running low / to run low