WHO and CDC primarily recommend using soap and water to clean your hands | Credit | Jean-Paul Chassenet/Alamy Stock

It may soon be difficult to purchase hand sanitizers in the capital because traders at Juba’s busiest wholesale market of Konyo-konyo says they have run out of the products.

The traders who spoke to Eye Radio are reporting shortages of hand sanitizers, with most shops and stores saying they have sold out within hours.

The product is already in high demand, especially among NGOs and companies.

Some traders say that NGOs and wholesale dealers have bought the whole stocks of sanitizers from the market over the past few days.

“Things like hand sanitizers, Dettol hand wash have become rare in the market,” said businessman, Abdul-Kafi Osman.

According to Abdul-Kafi Osman, the demand for the sanitizers increased after reports of Coronavirus in the neigboring countries, and the subsequent order by President Salva Kiir on COVID-19’s preventive measures.

He said it is also now difficult to purchase such items and import them into South Sudan due to the scarcity in those countries.

“We used to bring some from Dubai, but unfortunately now it has also become very rare in Dubai.

The scarcity of hand sanitizers, a liquid or gel generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands, has also been reported in several countries.

In Kenya, the government has order factories to use impounded alcohol to make hand sanitizers that will be distributed to the public for free.

In the United States, distilleries are stepping in to help combat the hand sanitizer shortage by using the alcohol in their facilities to create their own alcohol-based solutions. Some are packaging it in small bottles while others are encouraging people to bring in their own containers for refills.

The shortages globally have led some consumers to post make-your-own videos on YouTube, even though the World Health Organization and Centre for Diseases Control primarily recommend using soap and water to clean your hands.

This is because they say; it’s more effective to use soap and water than hand sanitizer at removing certain kinds of germs.

If you do use hand sanitizer, the CDC recommends using one that contains at least 60% alcohol, using enough to cover the surfaces of both hands and rubbing it in until dry.