Singaporeans who want to stay free of the novel coronavirus have gone to great lengths, literally.

Photos put up on Facebook on Feb. 6 showed a congregation of people in Singapore who travelled north all the way to Senoko industrial estate in Woodlands, just to buy copious amounts of industrial-grade disinfectant.

According to Google Maps, the Best Chemical Co factory at Senoko Road that is selling the disinfectant is located at the northern-most part of Singapore, just beside Johor Bahru:

To Best Chemical's credit, it had advertised its product on Facebook on Thursday morning, with the offer to sell 20 litres of disinfectant to each customer:

Only 1-litre and 4-litre bottles are made available for sale at S$18.00 and S$40.00 respectively, before GST.

According to the ingredients list of the disinfectant, it consists of 70 percent isopropyl alcohol.

Isopropyl alcohol is normally mixed with water for use as a rubbing-alcohol antiseptic, and can be found in aftershave lotions, hand lotions, and other cosmetics.

It can be diluted and sprayed on surfaces to disinfect them.

Limited offer

However, by afternoon, the offer was more limited as each customer was entitled to purchase up to 8 litres of disinfectant per person, down from 20 litres.

A long queue formed and people had to wait in the sun with umbrellas.

Kudos to the company, though, as it kept the public informed about the state of its inventory and if there was a queue.

Sales close at 5:30pm sharp.

Singaporeans have been buying up disinfectants and cleaning products en masse in the wake of the virus pandemic that started from Wuhan, China.

As of Feb. 5 evening, numerous retailers reported having their shelves wiped out.

Photos by Ngoh Seh Suan