Distillery making sanitizer for a strapped Washington hospital as coronavirus spreads
After Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced all bars, restaurants and entertainment facilities had to shut down, many businesses closed their doors.
But Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane will open its doors if you come knocking, because it is crafting and giving away homemade sanitizer spray, Don Poffenroth, founder of Dry Fly, told McClatchy News.
After receiving approval to begin making the sanitizer from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on Tuesday, Poffenroth says, the company posted the announcement on its Facebook page.
Shortly after posting the announcement, Poffenroth said, Eastern State Hospital in Spokane County reached out asking if it could get an order of its own.
“DSHS is actively exploring methods to keep our staff and patients safe. Because it is unknown how long this virus will impact us, we are exploring contingency plans in the event that the situation takes a bad turn,” Suzanne Ovel, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, told McClatchy.
“We are required to maintain a continuity of operations plan in place to help us maintain operations to certain standards. As a part of this planning, we are discussing with vendors, to include Dry Fly (Distilling), possibilities about the ability to produce hand sanitizer.”
The distillery is working to produce as much as they can amid a nationwide sanitizer shortage and rampant price-gouging brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’ll do what we need to help the community and then we’ll figure out the rest later,” Poffenroth said.
Founded 13 years ago, Dry Fly had to close its tasting room after Gov. Inslee made the announcement, but Poffenroth says the cost of production for them is very low, so it presents little financial burden to continue distilling.
After hearing about other local distilleries doing the same, but without the proper approval, Poffenroth says he decided he wanted to help his community during hard times.
Poffenroth hopes people will use the hand sanitizer quickly, because it will eventually eat through the plastic bottles.
The company is working to fill 1,000 four-ounce bottles of sanitizer spray Tuesday, and they hope to be able to distribute it by Friday. Poffenroth said they will continue to make more sanitizer depending on the demand.
Washington state has at least 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 53 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There are over 6,300 cases in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University’s data.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 4:46 PM.