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Whilst COVID-19 has started to become less of a news headline in the world’s press, it continues to be a key focus and challenge for Colart due to the restrictions placed on our people and operations. However, in this new update we have some good news which you can read all about in the “opening our CTAM site” section.
Safety and Health of our people
Thankfully our clean bill of health for our people in China and their families continues to remain in place – we are all extremely pleased to know this continues to be the case and value the ongoing warm wishes sent to people in China.
We talked in previous communications about the need to find an ongoing supply of face masks to ensure the protection of our people at work. The task remains challenging but the support of people across the group gives us confidence that we will resolve the supply need. Interestingly several major car manufacturers have gained certification for setting up accredited manufacturing lines of face masks and we are exploring tapping into their supply.
Numbers of people infected in China are clearly showing a positive trend with a clear slowdown in deaths and increase in people being cured but we ask everyone in Colart to remain vigilant to the symptoms of the virus and the absolute importance of hand hygiene. As reminder please visit this site for further information on how to ensure protection against infection.
We will retain the travel controls restricting travel to China or South East Asia until airlines open their routes – at which point we will review the situation. So, until then there should be no travel to South East Asia unless authorised by Dennis van Schie. Again, if you or a member of your family has visited China within the last 14 days, please contact HR to agree a return to work date which should be no less than 14 days from the date of return.
Opening of our CTAM site
Over the last few days it has become obvious that some local governments in China are loosening some of the rules on companies designed to constrain a coronavirus outbreak.
As we already know our Shanghai office was authorised to open for business on Monday 17 February and on Tuesday evening we had a contingent of local government officials (20 in total!) auditing the Tianjin site to inspect our procedures for protecting our people should operations restart. A list of corrective actions was identified so Hunter together with his management team worked tirelessly to resolve the identified issues.
As a result of this great work and absolute persistence to chase for authorisation, we are extremely pleased to announce that the CTAM site was given authorisation to start work with effect from 20th February.
This is great news enabling the CTAM team to begin work on their clear plan to address priorities in supply and production. As Hunter Zhang, General Manager CTAM, said “We are so grateful! Because when we were helpless, we received care and support from Colart headquarters and Business Units throughout the world”. Click here to read Hunter’s full article
Of course, this authorisation will not lead to complacency and we will continue to focus on upholding the very strict rules for maintaining employee health during the risk period. The commitment and discipline of our people in CTAM is critical to ensuring complacency is avoided. Furthermore, the challenges with respect to other companies being able to commence activities remains and this may of course apply to our suppliers and carriers in China – of course delays here will continue to impact our service from CTAM.
Update on numbers
China’s National Health Commission confirmed as of 20 February 1,749 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 74,675. The number of new cases are down from the previous day and the lowest recorded since January 29. However, the death toll reached 2,121, with 114 more reported deaths from the day prior. The majority of the deaths continued to be recorded in Hubei province, which experienced a slowdown in the number of new cases but an increase in the number of deaths by more than 40 percent. 11,977 cases are reported to be serious, while a total of 14,376 patients have recovered from the virus.
Cases in Shanghai and Tianjin thankfully remain on the low side with 333 and 130 cases diagnosed respectively. Of course with our offices and operations starting work, we hope this low trend continues.
The WHO reported ten new cases outside mainland China on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 804 in 25 countries. The WHO also told media that 92 cases in 12 countries were confirmed to have spread by human-to-human transmission outside China.
Some interesting facts
- With the improvement in infections results being evident it was reported that President Xi Jinping of China hailed Beijing’s handling of the epidemic. In separate phone calls with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron. President Xi said that the measures to prevent and control COVID-19 are achieving visible progress and will succeed in countering the virus.
- The Chinese internet was swept up (pun intended) in a flurry of broom pictures as bored “quarantined” people posted pictures online of their attempts to balance a variety of different brooms, brushes, eggs and knives. Known to take place every year, the broom challenge returned in 2020 hitting China in a big way with WeChat and Weibo sites awash with a variety of items being balanced….maybe a challenge we could replicate in Colart?!
- Last week’s Canton import and export fair (similar to the one held in Frankfurt) was the latest victim to the current situation and it has suspended activities as a result. The Canton Spring fair in April may also be affected – to be confirmed.
- Facilitated by the virus, China is continuing its trend for moving online with:
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- New apps are becoming available daily in China to help you get fit at home; find out on a local map whether anyone nearby has been infected by the virus; how best to home school your children whilst schools are closed; prescription refill delivery sites; best food delivery sites…..and more!
- Chinese courts being mobilized to promote and improve online litigation services making good use of mobile and online litigation service platforms. Activities moved online, include case filing, mediation, evidence exchange, court hearing, sentencing and document delivery.
It’s a challenge but also an opportunity!
As we continue to share articles from our people in China please click here to read some interesting thoughts by Charles Liu, CTAM IT Manager.
Don’t be afraid “Come on!”
We are pleased to be able to share another live update from our person on the ground in Wuhan – Annie Lu, Marketing Executive. Click here to see what’s happening.
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