prunus
Tick tock.
Yeah I hear the shelves are empty. I know anti-bacterial won't do anything but can you get anti-viral? Why would the government recommend something which is useless? Its not bothering about masks and stuff.
60%+ ethanol hand wash will kill these viruses - they have a complex encapsuating membrane of lipids and proteins that is disrupted by strong ethanol solutions, inactivating them. Soap will do this too, possibly better in fact (and certainly less overall irritatingly to your skin). They are relatively fragile viruses, as these things go.
Not useless (though I do believe soap and water is better as I say).