Temasek Foundation giving FREE Hand Sanitizers to households

All residential households may collect 500ml of FREE zero alcohol hand sanitiserCollection pamphlets will be sent to all households in the coming daysInterested households should also bring their own clean reusable bottle/sCollection dates as follows:23 – 29 March at any 109 Community Clubs (CCs) around Singapore23 March – 5 April at any participating CapitaLand malls

Temasek Foundation greatly appreciates the support of People’s Association, CapitaLand, SG Cares, Singapore Post, SP Group and many other local partners, to provide up to half a litre of alcohol-free hand sanitiser to almost 1.5 million households in Singapore. This is part of a Stay Prepared initiative to support the Singapore community during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

The World Health Organisation has recommended that regular handwashing with soap and water is an effective way of preventing the spread of viruses and other germs. However, hand sanitisers are especially useful when there are no convenient hand washing facilities available. Apart from alcohol-based hand sanitisers, there are also safe broad spectrum non-alcohol based sanitisers which can be considered.

Based on the interim guidelines from the National Environment Agency of Singapore, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the European Union, 0.05% of benzalkonium chloride or BKC is one of the non-alcohol disinfectants that can be used against coronaviruses.

Temasek Foundation is supplying 500ml of 0.054% BKC sanitiser to every household in Singapore. It is a water-based zero alcohol hand sanitiser, which is not flammable. It is also not toxic or corrosive, and does not stain clothing, or irritate the skin.

The hand sanitiser will be available for collection around Singapore over two weeks, from 23 March to 29 March 2020 at any of the 109 CCs around Singapore, and from 23 March to 5 April 2020, at 16 participating CapitaLand malls. In other words, during the first week on 23-29 March (Mon-Sun) of the #BYOBclean community rollout, residents may collect from either the 109 CCs or the 16 participating CapitaLand malls. In the following week of 30 March – 5 April (Mon-Sun), residents may collect from any of the 16 participating CapitaLand malls.

Interested households should bring along these two items to any of the above venues to collect their 500ml of sanitiser solution:1. A #BYOBclean collection pamphlet2. One or more empty and clean bottles

1. #BYOBclean PamphletAll households are encouraged to look out for the pamphlet that will be delivered by Singapore Post to their mailboxes in the coming days.

Residents should note the specified collection date on their pamphlet. They must bring along their pamphlet to collect their free sanitiser at any collection centre. Each pamphlet will entitle the resident to collect up to 500ml of hand sanitiser. In addition to the collection details, the pamphlet also provides useful information such as the seven-step hand-washing technique to ensure good hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is an important precaution to minimise or prevent the transmission of germs that cause respiratory infections like flu, common cold, and COVID-19.

2. Bring Your Own BottleResidents must bring their own clean, recycled bottle(s) to collect their free hand sanitiser. This #BYOBclean approach is part of our collective responsibility to reuse and recycle bottles and reduce waste. The recycled bottles may be an empty shampoo bottle, a glass bottle, or an ordinary PET or other plastic bottles. Residents may also bring up to 5 smaller bottles, so long as each bottle has at least 100ml of capacity. Volunteers will affix a special label to each bottle, before residents fill their own bottles with 500ml of sanitizer solution.

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