Why billions can't wash their hands in pandemic

Joshua Bote | USA TODAY

Buzz60

As coronavirus panic reaches a fever pitch – and the World Health Organization officially calling it a pandemic – some people have taken advantage of people’s anxiety for a quick buck.

That includes one teenager in the United Kingdom, who was suspended from school for the day for selling “squirts” of hand sanitizer to his friends at Dixons Unity Academy in Leeds.

Jenny Tompkins posted her son’s moneymaking schemes on Facebook Wednesday, where it amassed nearly 198,000 reactions and 98,000 comments – much of which praised his entrepreneurial savvy.

“Very hard to discipline this behaviour when his dad phones him from work to call him a (expletive) legend,” Tompkins wrote on Facebook.

One poster called him a "very enterprising lad."

In all, he made just over $11 from his little grift – after selling each squirt for 64 cents.

What are the proceeds going to be used for? Tompkins said he purchased a bag of Doritos – and plans to buy a kebab with the rest of his cash.

A reminder: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prefers plain-old hand washing with soap and water, which eradicates all germs, over hand sanitizer.

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

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Satellite images show the impact of COVID-19 coronavirus