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As Governments around the world seek to step up responses to COVID-19 with the increases see in infection, we would like to remind everyone of the response that Colart has taken across the group to manage the challenges and implications with our focus on ensuring everyone in Colart and their families to STAY SAFE.
Protection First
Across all sites we have:
- Introduced clear rules and restrictions with respect to travel – with the aim of severely limiting it in-country and stopping it internationally
- Made hand sterilising products available (though we are of course experience supply challenges in certain countries)
- Reinforced importance of handwashing as this is the best way to ensure protection
- Increased cleaning frequency of our sites with focus on door handles and handrails.
- Advised everyone about the process to follow if you are concerned that you may be contaminated for example if you or your family has visited a red zone region
- Put notices on doors to advise any visitors to our sites what we expect them to do and indeed stopped visitors where appropriate
- Purchased masks, thermometers and gloves and when not available to source locally we are trying to provide support across the group – for example, the masks that we managed to source for Le Mans are being shared with our office in Italy.
- Circulated clear rules and systems advice with respect to how to effectively work remotely. Clearly this becomes more and more important as the situation progresses
Please do read the previous updates for more details on hygiene, travel and visitor and in-office clustering restrictions and check out the Infrastructure communication covering remote working.
Impact to our sites
Just as our operations in China start to get back to normal, our commercial office in Spain is now experiencing the same restrictions and challenges met by our offices in Italy and Japan.
Currently, all teams are working from home as the respective countries place strong rules to stop the movement of people. This has included the closure of schools and universities and more severely in Italy, the closure of shops until at least the beginning of April.
Clearly a very challenging period for our teams in all three countries and we continue to monitor carefully the situation elsewhere paying particular attention to contingency actions whilst trying to ensure service is maintained as far as possible to our customers and consumers.
COVID-19 is now a world pandemic, means no one is out of the risks. It will affect all the economics worldwide and surely Colart business for a period of time. We have to face all together a fully un-forecasted event that will need specific actions to keep us strong for the future.
It is a new opportunity to see our capacity to react to our environment, without panic but with determination.
Update on numbers
China’s National Health Commission reported 15 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 11 new deaths as of midnight on March 12. 8 of the 15 cases and 10 of the 11 deaths were reported in Hubei Province. In a positive signal that the outbreak is waning in China, specific industries in Wuhan have been allowed to resume work. The total number of cases in mainland China reached 80,793, while the death toll rose to 3,169.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported over 118,000 cases of COVID-19 and 4,292 deaths. Over 2,300 new cases were confirmed in Italy within the last 24 hours, bringing the country’s recorded infections to over 12,000 with 827 deaths. Cases also surged elsewhere across Europe, including in Denmark, which saw a tenfold increase in cases over the past 72 hours.
On a positive note…
Our operation in Tianjin has been rewarded by our Joint Venture partner (the Longxing Group which is a state-owned company) for the excellent measures put in place to not only protect our people but also start production as quickly as possible as well as passing all subsequent government audits. More details to follow in a separate notice but we would like to thank everyone in CTAM for their support.
Some interesting facts
- The WHO officially designated COVID-19 as a global pandemic, citing the exponential increase in the number of cases in the last week. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned national governments to expect an increase in the number of cases, deaths, and affected countries.
- After a week of volatile markets, national governments announced a raft of measures to stabilize their economies. In the US, President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on all passenger travel from Europe, excluding the UK, alongside support measures including USD 50 billion in liquidity for small businesses and deferment of tax payments for specific individuals and companies. Stimulus and support measures were also announced in Australia, the UK and Canada.
- Major business and sporting activities continue to be affected. The National Basketball Association announced on Wednesday that the season is suspended after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus. The CME Group announced the closure of its Chicago trading floor to avoid large gatherings.
Any questions?
Should you have any questions or thoughts about the current situation please send an email to people@colart.com and we will come back to you as soon as possible